| LS BHAKY (!F CONGRESS. i\ 
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♦UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, I 



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Perfect Law 



BY EEV. GEOEGE S. MOTT. 




PUBLISHED BY THE 
AMERICAN TEACT SOCIETY, 

150 NASSAU-STREET, NEW YORK. 



"S V 4 b 5 5 

• tm 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 18GS, by the 
American Tract Society, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court 
of the United States for the Southern District of New York. 



CONTENTS. 



The Perfect Law — Introductory page 5 

I. God - 11 

II. God's Worship , 25 

DDL God's Name 42 

IV. God's Day 60 

V. The Family — 81 

VI. Man's Life - 101 

VII. Man's Purity - - 120 

VIII. Man's Property 135 

IX. Man's Character — — - 158 

X. Man's Heart - 178 

Conclusion 194 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



And Go'cl spake all these words saying, I am 
the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out 
of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bond- 
age. 

Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 1 

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven 
image, or any likeness of any thing that is in 
heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or 
that is in the water under the earth ; thou shalt 
not bow down thyself to them nor serve them ; 
for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visit- 
ing the iniquity of the fathers upon the children 
unto the third and fourth, generation of them 
that hate me ; and showing mercy unto thou- 
sands of them that love me and keep my com- 
mandments. 

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy 
God in vain ; for the Lord will not hold him 
guiltless that taketh his name in vain. 



6 



THE PEEFECT LAW. 



Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy. 
Six days slialt thou labor and do all thy work ; 
but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord 
thy God ; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, 
nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, 
nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy 
stranger that is within thy gates : forin'six days 
the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and 
all that in them is, and rested the seventh day ; 
wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day and 
hallowed it. 

Honor thy father and -thy mother; that thy 
days may be long upon the land which the Lord 
thy God giveth thee. 

Thou shalt not kill. 

Thou shalt not commit adultery. 

Thou shalt not steal. 

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy 
neighbor. 

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, 
thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his 
man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, 
nor bis ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



This Decalogue, or "ten words" of Jehovah, 
contains not merely practical rules of life, it 
speaks of the nature of God, and of man's 
relation to Him. Hence these words are a 
reflex of the Being who spake them. Greg- 
ory says of the Holy Scriptures, they are 
" the heart and soul of God ; for in the Scrip- 
tures, as in a glass, we may see how the 
heart and soul of God stand toward his poor 
creatures." So these utterances from Sinai 
are God's thoughts of what things are right, 
and what are wrong; they are his fatherly 
counsels to guide man in " ways of pleasant- 
ness and paths of peace." Thus they become 
a' rule of obedience, with which He, as sover- 
eign of the human race, requires his subjects 
to comply. 

These precepts are a manual containing the 
principles of God's requirements. The deca- 
logue does not stand by itself, it is to be 
connected with the entire system of divine 



8 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



truth which is illustrated, applied/ and en- 
forced on the pages of Holy Writ. We look 
at the starry heavens and admire those gems 
of light, but by the aid of the telescope we 
discover that they are worlds and systems of 
worlds. And these terse precepts of the 
moral law, these points of divine truth, when 
amplified by the teachings of the Bible, dis- 
close much more in social life, in relative 
obligations, and in religious services, than 
the unaided understanding can apprehend. 
The mariner at each noon takes his observa- 
tion of the sun, to know how correctly he is 
keeping his course; and we should constant- 
ly compare our deeds and thoughts with this 
testimony of the Lord, which is " sure, mak- 
ing wise the simple." If we neglect this, we 
shall be in great danger of drifting into folly 
and sin. 

The ten commandments were given origi- 
nally to the Jews; but their requirements are 
for all time, and bind every man, woman, and 
child. The principles they embody, existed 
from the beginning, and among all nations ; 
for the Gentiles "show the work of the law 
written in their hearts, their conscience also 



INTRODUCTORY. 



9 



bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean- 
while accusing or else excusing one another.'' 
They are based on man's moral nature, and 
find a response in every human soul. Hence 
they are of universal application, and will 
continue to be of perpetual obligation. Their 
character shows that they are to be binding 
so long as generations of men inhabit the 
earth. From the very nature of things they 
cannot be repealed. While the human fam- 
ily continues, while men have property, life, 
and character to be protected, while weal or 
woe results from man's conduct, just so long 
must these laws control us. Only when God 
consents that we shall not love him, rever- 
ence his name, keep his day holy, will the 
moral law become null and void. Obedience 
is required not aloi& to one precept, but to 
all. " He that offendeth in one point is guilty 
of all." These precepts are like ten links of 
a single chain ; the violation of one breaks a 
link and severs the chain. 

The decalogue is not like the laws on a 
statute-book, with which we come in contact 
occasionally; we encounter its regulations 
each clay, and in every deed and word ; yea, 



10 



THE PEBFECT LAW. 



in all our thoughts and passions. As the 
atmosphere goes into every crevice on the 
earth's surface, and presses on all men at all 
times and in all places, so the moral law in 
its practical issues touches not now and then, 
but always the wants and waywardness of 
sinful men. " The law of the Lord is per- 
fect converting the soul." Psa. 19:7. 

" Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with 
all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with 
all thy mind. This is the first and great 
commandment. And the second is like unto 
it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 
On these two commandments hang all the 
law and the prophets." Matt. 22 : 37-40. 



GOD. 



I. 

GOD. 

J^HOU SHALT HAVE NO OTHER GODS 
BEFORE ME." 

The first commandment presents God to 
us. The King of the universe descended from 
his throne in the heavens, and was seated 
on Sinai amid fire and smoke and cloud. At 
the foot of the mount all Israel was hushed 
in silence. . The ground trembled beneath 
them, as the peals of thunder reverberated 
among the mountains. The power of that 
Jehovah who parteth the waves of sea, was 
again manifested. Awe-struck the people 
gazed in mute wonder, when these words 
were heard: "I am the Lord thy God, w T hich 
brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of 
the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no 
other gods before me." The great Lawgiver 
speaks of his own existence. On the open- 
ing page of his statute-book, He writes his 



12 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



own name : "I am God, and besides Me 
tliere is none else." . 

This informs us that there is only one 
God : a truth which may seem so evident 
that we can scarcely imagine the contrary; 
yet more than two-thirds of the human race 
have lived in profound ignorance of it. The 
ancients with all their wisdom knew not God. 
If they held to one supreme being, with him 
were associated in their belief many assist- 
ants or lesser gods. To the care of these 
they committed different parts of the earth, 
and the various products of the soil. They 
had a god for the mountains, a god for the 
valleys, and the plains ; a god for the springs 
of water, for rivers, and for the ocean. There 
was a god of grain, of the grape, of all 
kinds of fruit. And every class of men had a 
deity, who was specially interested in its 
welfare. The mechanic, the merchant, the 
poet, the scholar invoked the blessing of his 
patron-god. And our ancestors, who lived 
in England and Saxony were no wiser. Each 
rising sun may remind us of their ignorance 
of Jehovah. The names they gave the days 
of the week were taken from their principal 



GOD. 



deities, Sunday is derived from the god of 
the sun, and Monday from the god of the 
moon. Tuesday is the clay of their god 
Tuisco, and "Wednesday of Woden. Thor 
was the patron of Thursday, and Friga of 
Friday, who was a goddess like Venus of 
the ancient Greeks. And Saefer closed the 
week. These indeed were imaginary beings, 
nevertheless the belief in them exerted a 
mighty influence. They were worshipped, 
and feared ; and nothing but the Bible has 
delivered us from so degrading a supersti- 
tion. 

Does such a being as God exist ? Those 
who deny this are called atheists, (without 
God.) Their course of reasoning is a tissue 
of objections and difficulties urged against 
the existence of God, aM ends in fault-find- 
ing with the arrangements of the All- wise. 
Even their weightiest arguments do no more 
than suggest that perhaps there is no God, 
that so far as they can see there is none. 
But does the atheist know every thing ? . 
Has he comprehended all secrets? Every 
day's experience proves how easily we maj^ 
be mistaken, so that a cautious person soon 



14 



THE PEEFECT LAW. 



learns not to be too confident in his own in- 
ferences. If this caution is needed in mat- 
ters of common life, ho^ much more is it in 
those profound mysteries and perplexing 
queries, which the atheist declares militate 
against the existence of God ! 

Atheism advances no evidence ; its posi- 
tions are mere objections. It casts not a 
ray of light into the grave. Suppose it be 
proved that there is no God, what then have 
we gained? Are we relieved from an here- 
after ? Certainly not. The atheist assumes 
without proof that man is not immortal. 
But if he believe in chance, then may not 
that same chance which originated the soul, 
carry that soul over into another life ? The 
chain of circumstances, which in his opinion 
has made this woiicl of sin and woe, may 
create a hell in another world. So that, for 
all he knows to the contrary, he may be far 
more miserable hereafter than he is in this 
life. It by no means follows, that if there 
were no God, there would be no future state. 
If God is not essential to our present exist- 
♦ ^ence, may there not be another life beyond 
the grave without Him? Whatever is the 



GOD. 



15 



cause of our creation here, may produce an 
existence hereafter. 

Atheism removes none of our wretched- 
ness and doubts ; nor does it give us one 
pleasant or solid hope. It has no power to 
restrain crime, but rather stimulates to a 
wicked career. It has never elevated a peo- 
ple, nor made men lovely, good, or virtuous. 
Its whole tendency is to recklessness — " let 
us eat and drink, "for to-morrow we die." 
Organize society on the basis of atheism, and 
we have a resemblance of hell. God has 
permitted one such trial, that atheists them- 
selves may stand appalled at the fruits of 
their own system. In the French Revolution 
the existence of God was publicly denied. 
Religion was caricatured, and piety insulted 
by the mock worship of a votary of lust — 
another Venus — in the cathedral at Paris. 
By legislative enactment the Sabbath was 
abolished. And what was the result ? That 
period of no Sabbath and no God, is the 
bloodiest page of modern history. Well might 
Robespierre, one of the leaders in that rev- 
olution declare— " if there be no God, we 
must then invent Him." Atheism is the 



16 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



deepest and darkest pit into which man ever 
looked. 

But -what assurance have we that there is a 
God ? Much every way. Each sj)ring, as it 
calls forth the latent forces which clothe the 
earth with verdure, furnishes proof of Him 
who upholdeth all things. The grain-field, 
waving beneath the breezes of summer is a 
heave-offering in acknowledgment of the 
Father who giveth our" daily bread. The 
boughs bending with fruit, proclaim the be- 
neficence of a Creator. " The cattle upon a 
thousand hills " with wordless speech tell us 
of the care of their Shepherd. The birds of 
the grove sing his praises. "The heavens 
declare his glory, and the firmament showeth 
his handiwork." Is all this diversified crea- 
tion and teeming bounty without a cause? 
A poor Arabian of the desert was asked how 
he was assured there was a God? "In the 
same way," he replied, "that I am able to 
tell by the print impressed on the sand, 
whether a beast or a man has passed." 

An astronomer had an acquaintance who 
denied the existence of a supreme being. 
Expecting a visit from him, he procured a 



GOD. 



17 



globe of the starry heavens, which he placed 
in the room. His friend soon after his arri- 
val, inquired where he obtained so beautiful 
a globe. " It was not made by any one, but 
came of itself," said the astronomer. " That 
is impossible," replied the other; "you are 
jesting." The astronomer answered, "My 
dear sir, vou will not believe that this small 
body originated by chance ; and yet you will 
contend that those heavenly bodies, of which 
it is only a meagre and diminutive repre- 
sentation, came into existence without order 
or design." As he pursued this chain of 
reasoning, the atheist was constrained to 
acknowledge the absurdity of his belief. 

Who can look at the starry heavens, and 
assert that no omnipotent arm gave those 
undimned lights their place, and upholds 
them there? Napoleon was sailing down 
the Nile one starlight night, surrounded by 
his staff. A discussion arose in which all 
the officers agreed in denying the existence 
of the Deity. Napoleon remained silent un- 
til the conversation closed, when suddenly 
rising, he exclaimed, pointing to the sky ? 
"Gentlemen, who made all that?" 

The Perfect Law. 2 



18 THE PERFECT LAW. 



Turn then from man's perplexing queries, 
and consider the witness God hath left of 
himself, "in the heavens above, and on the 
earth beneath, and in the waters which are 
under the earth." "By the things that are 
made," we can understand "his eternal power 
and godhead." Our own thoughts and con- 
science assure us there is a God. This idea 
has possessed the minds of men in all ages. 
Not a tribe can be found, even among the 
most savage nations, which has not some 
notion of a Deity, and a worship correspond- 
ing to that notion. The atheist replies that 
this impression is the result of education. 
But how is it to be explained that this belief 
of childhood clings so tenaciously to the 
heart, when many other religious convictions 
have been effaced? 

And why is it that so many who profess to 
be atheists, at death confess there is a God, 
and are full of horror at the thought of him? 
An intelligent, but irreligious young man 
was suddenly brought to a death-bed, and 
among his last words were: "'I have tried to 
disbelieve a future hell; how vain the at- 
tempt. Now I know I shall eternally per- 



GOD. 19 

ish." Instances like tliis might be multipli- 
ed. Sir Thomas Scott cried out in his last 
hours, "Until this moment, I believed there 
was neither a God 'nor a hell; now I know 
and feel that there are both, and that I am 
doomed to perdition by the just judgment of 
God." Thus this idea of the Deity asserts 
its place in the minds of those who have tried 
to obliterate it, and wrings an unwilling con- 
fession that the boast of a' lifetime was a 
delusion. 

• 1 A solemn murmur in the soul 
TeUs of a world to be ; 
As travellers hear the billows roll, 
Before they reach the sea. " 

But who has ever heard of a dying Chris- 
tian declaring, that there is no God, and that 
his faith is a delusion. Infidels have often 
recanted on their death-bed; but the first 
instance has yet to be recorded, wherein a 
believer on the Lord Jesus Christ, confessed 
in his dying hour, that he had trusted in a 
lie. 

i There is a God. This we believe. But 
faith is not a cold and empty conjecture. 
"It is then we have faith, when the will of 



20 THE PERFECT LAW. 

God is made known to us, and we embrace 
it 3 so that we worship him as our Father. 
Hence the knowledge of God is required as 
necessary to faith." (Calvin.) But who can 
find out the Almighty? He has revealed 
what we are to believe concerning him, and 
what duties he requires of us. That revela- 
tion is contained in the Scriptures of the Old 
and Xew Testament ; " which are able to make 
us wise unto salvation." It is therefore the 
duty and inalienable right of every one to 
"search the Scriptures." Xo man must come 
between our minds and the Bible. 

In a letter to his son, John Quincy Adams 
writes: "I have many years made it a prac- 
tice to read through the Bible once a year. 
My custom is to read four or five chapters 
every morning, immediately after rising from 
my bed. It employs an hour of my time, 
and seems to me the most suitable manner 
of beginning the day/ 3 The celebrated Dr. 
Johnson counselled a young man, "'Bead the 
Bible every day of your life." When the 
Scriptures fully translated into their own 
tongue arrived at the Hervey Islands, a pub- 
lic meeting was held. One of the natives at 



GOD. 



21 



the close of his speech, declared, "My breth- 
ren and my sisters, this is ray resolve : the 
dust shall never cover ray new Bible, the 
moths shall never eat it, the mildew shall 
never rot it, my life and my joy." 

The mandate, "Thou shalt have no other 
gods before me," requires that we should 
love God supremely. Many things we may 
love with moderation, and seek after earnest- 
ly, but when our attachment to them becomes 
so strong, and our pursuit of them so ardent, 
as to interfere with our duty to God, we are 
then guilty of practical idolatry. Whatever 
alienates the heart from our Maker, aiicl 
weakens our affection for him, usurps his 
throne and receives the service due to him 
alone. 

A celebrated authoress of the present day 
reports a sermon of Wesley, as narrated by 
an English servant-woman: "He said we are 
all born idolaters, no better than the heathen, 
unless we love God. And then he went on 
to say what were our idols. At first I thought 
he was going to let us all off easy. For he 
spoke of the rich man worshipping his riches, 
and I thought of the old miser at Falmouth, 



• 



22 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



who counts out his money every night ; and 
then he spoke of the great man worshipping 
his acres, and I thought there was a hit at 
our squire. And then he spoke of the foolish 
young girls making an idol of their ribbons. 
And then he told of husbands and wives 
making idols of each other, and mothers of 
their children, and then I thought of all of 
you, Mrs. Kitty. I wished that master and 
you and missis had been there to hear." 

"Then the parson after all, said nothing 
that suited you particularly, Betty?" 

"Mrs. Kitty, he made me feel I was no 
better than a natural born heathen, and that 
the idols I had been worshipping, instead of 
God, were things an Indian savage would 
have been ashamed of." 

"What were they, Betty?" 

" Why just my dairy, and my kitchen, and 
myself, the very pats of butter, which must be 
better than any in the county, and the stone 
floor I've been as angered to see a footmark 
on as if it had been the king's footstool. 
But the Almighty never made us to bury our 
souls in pats of butter and pans of milk, and 
forget him." 



GOD. 



23 



The objects of idolatry are as diverse as 
the objects of human pursuit. The penurious 
and the generous, the. affectionate and the 
selfish, the rich and the poor may easily find 
an idol. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy 
God, and him only shalt thou serve. 5 ' 

With peculiar impressiveness these words, 
"I am the Lord thy God," fell upon the ears 
of the people gathered before Sinai. And 
amid the whirl of pleasure, or in the busy 
rounds of earthly cares and pursuits, these 
words are repeated in the soul, I am the 
Lord thy God, remember me. Are you mak- 
ing him your God? Do you so confide in 
him and serve him that you can say, He is 
mine? He was your father's God, he was 
your mother's God; is he yours? 

There is sweet comfort in this command- 
ment, when to the believer it becomes a 
promise. It is an assurance of God's pro- 
tection and love. " I am the Lord thy God," 
and what had Israel to fear, though Sinai 
frowned, and the desert path lay before 
them? "I am the Lord thy God," is the 
believer's pledge that he shall never be for- 
saken. A friend calling on the Rev. Ebene- 



24 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



zer Erskine during his last illness, said to 
him 3 "Sir, you have given us rauch good 
advice, pray what are you doing with your 
own soul?" 

" I am doing with it," he replied, " what I 
did forty years ago : I am resting on that 
word, c I am the Lord thy God and on this 
I mean to die." To another he said, " The 
covenant is my charter, and if it had not 
been for that blessed word, ' I am the Lord 
thy God,' my hope and my strength had per- 
ished." 



GOD'S WORSHIP. 



25 



II. 

GOD'S WORSHIP. 

yHOU SHALT NOT MAKE UNTO THEE ANY 
GRAVEN IMAGE, OR ANY LIKENESS OP 
ANYTHING THAT IS IN HEAVEN ABOVE, 
OR THAT IS IN THE EARTH BENEATH, 
OR THAT IS IN THE WATER UNDER 
THE EARTH \ THOU SHALT NOT BOW 
DOWN THYSELF TO THEM, NOR SERVE 
THEM I FOR J THE j^ORD THY pOD 
AM A JEALOUS pOD, VISITING THE 
INIQUITY OF THE FATHERS UPON THE 
CHILDREN UNTO THE THIRD AND 
FOURTH GENERATION OF THEM THAT 
HATE me; AND SHOWING MERCY UNTO 
'THOUSANDS OF THEM THAT LOVE ME, 
AND KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS, 

The difference between the first and second 
commandments is, that the former declares 
there is only one God, and he solely is to be 
the object of worship: the second explains 



26 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



the mode in which God must be adored. He 
is not to be worshipped by means of an im- 
age or outward representation. The Lord 
Jesus Christ stated the gist of this command- 
ment, when he said, "God is a spirit; and 
they that worship him must worship him in 
spirit and in truth." 

The most flagrant violation of this enact- 
ment of Jehovah is witnessed in the idolatry 
of the heathen. The images which they set 
up usurp the place of the God of all flesh. 
They invest these with superhuman powers, 
and bow down before them. Sacrifices are 
offered to them, and their assistance is in- 
voked. The absurdity of this homage is pun- 
gently represented in the forty-fourth chapter 
of Isaiah. And yet idolatry has not been 
confined to barbarous people. The most 
enlightened nations of antiquity were grossly 
idolatrous. 

Egypt, the cradle of civilization and science, 
worshipped the ox, the crocodile, and the 
cat. Athens, renowned for philosophy, poe- 
try, and eloquence, was "full of idols." And 
those nations which now stand at the head 
of the pagan world, and which exhibit the 



GOD'S WORSHIP. 



27 



most intelligence arid learning, have system- 
atized their religion into a multitude of idols. 
The Chinese have "gods many and lords 
many." They discover gods in every thing, 
and are continually deifying some departed 
sage or hero ; so that their temples, houses, 
streets, and shops are full of sacred images, 
and their rooms, doors, and windows are 
painted with charms and amulets. Equally 
degraded is the idolatry of Hindostan. Kalee 
is the name of one of their most hideous god- 
desses. She is entirely black. From her 
open mouth the tongue protrudes to indicate 
her thirst for blood. In one hand she holds 
a human head by the hair, and in the other 
a skull filled with blood. Calcutta is the 
principal seat of her worship, and there her 
devotees are numerous. A few years ago 
the English constructed a railroad from that 
city towards the interior. When the natives 
first saw the trains flying so swiftly, and 
drawn by a strange-looking object ; when 
they witnessed the irresistible power of the 
locomotive, the apparent fury with which it 
rushed along grinding, and blowing, and 
smoking ; and especially when at night they 



28 THE PERFECT LAW. 

saw the fireplace, like a large flaming mouth, 
open as if to devour all in its path ; and. 
when they found that all the locomotives 
came out of Calcutta, the home of Kalee, 
they came to the conclusion that the loco- 
motive was Kalee herself: and their super- 
stition constrained them to worship her in 
this new appearance. Consequently all along 
the line of the road the people strewed flow- 
ers. on the rails, and at different points they 
sacrificed sheep and goats. 

Indeed the glorious light of the gospel, 
which floods our land, shines upon heathen 
rites performed within sound of church-bells. 
A missionary who was laboring among the 
Chinese in San Francisco, and was acquaint- 
ed with their language and customs, relates 
that he entered a shop kept by a Chinaman. 
In a corner was a stand for selling incense- 
sticks, gilt paper, prayers and various other 
articles used in idol worship. In the rear of 
the building was a boarding-house, where 
their idolatrous practices were celebrated. 
And the same heathen rites are observed by 
Chinese who live in New York. These facts 
show that idolatry is fearfully prevalent in 



GOD'S WOKSHIP. 



29 



all parts of the earth ; and that millions 
need to be taught — " Thou shalt not make 
unto thee any graven image, thou shalt 
not bow down thyself to them nor serve 
them." 

This commandment condemns those who 
claim to worship the true God by the aid of 
images. Romanists contend that the devout 
worshipper is greatly assisted, especially if 
he be ignorant, by contemplating the crucifix. 
However this may be, the practical effect is. 
to interpose an object between the soul and 
Jesus Christ, which renders him a God afar 
off and not nigh at hand. The image be- 
comes invested with a sacredness, which can- 
not be attached to earthly things without 
offending him who declares, " thou shalt not 
make unto thee any graven image ; thou 
shalt not bow down thyself to them." But 
the grievous error of Rome goes farther than 
an adoration of the crucifix. Images of the 
Virgin Mary and of various saints receive so 
much homage as really to obscure the Lord 
Jesus, who alone is the image of the invisi- 
ble God. In the cathedral at Havana is a 
life-size figure of the Virgin dressed in the 



30 THE FEBFECT LAW. 

costliest white satin ; the head is adorned 
with a coronet of jewels, and the fingers 
sparkle with the richest gems. Before it 
men, women, and children kneel and say 
their prayers. It is a verified fact that 
images are now adored in the city of Rome,* 
which the old heathen Romans worshipped 
as gods. Certainly little discrimination can 
be made between the homage bestowed 
upon these canonized saints, and that which 
was rendered to those deified heroes of the 
heathen. 

The Council of Trent declares, "they are 
wholly to be condemned, who affirm that 
veneration and honor are not due to the 
relics of the saints; -or that it is a useless 
thing that the faithful should honor these 
and other sacred monuments ; and that the 
memorials of the saints are in vain frequented 
to obtain their help and assistance." This 
utterance has not remained a mere theologi- 
cal opinion, it has sanctioned the veneration 
paid to relics, and permitted it to be carried 
to absurd extremes. In the church of the 
Holy Cross at Eome, you will be shown the 
finger of Saint Thomas, with w 7 hich he touched 



GOD'S WORSHIP. 



31 



the side of our Lord; a vial of the blood of 
Jesus Christ, and another full of the milk of 
the Virgin Mary ; a piece of the stone on 
which our Saviour sat, when he forgave, the 
sins of Mary Magdalene ; a piece of the tw T o 
tables of the law, written by the finger of 
God ; a little of the manna with which God 
fed Israel in the desert ; a lock of Christ's 
hair. In the church of St. Prassede, they 
exhibit an under-garment of the Virgin ; a 
piece of the rod of Moses ; one of the stones 
used in stoning Stephen ; and the column to 
which our Lord was bound when he was 
scourged. In the church of St. John Lat- 
er an, there is preserved the blood and w r ater 
which ran out from the side of Jesus Christ 
when he hung on the cross; the head of 
Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist; 
the towel on which the Lord wiped his hands 
after washing the feet of the disciples ; the 
table used at the last supper.* These are a 
few of the fabricated relics w T hich abound in 
Rome, while in the scores of churches of that- 
city, not a copy of the Holy Bible is to be 
seen. 

* Rome Christian and Papal, by De Sanctis. 



32 THE PERFECT LAW. 

In view of these facts we need not be sur- 
prised that the Roman church cannot endure 
this second commandment ; but puts it aside 
as £iuch as possible, by making it an appen- 
dage of the first, and explains away its true 
import. The full number of the decalogue 
is preserved by dividing the last command- 
ment into two. And in nearly all the popish 
catechisms, published throughout the world, 
the prohibitions of the second commandment 
are omitted. 

The Greek church, which is the national 
church of Russia and Greece, and which has 
millions of adherents in the Turkish empire, 
pays a veneration to pictures similar to that 
which Papists bestow on images. In cor- 
ners of rooms, over gateways, in offices, 
on steamboats, at street corners, and in tav- 
erns, the sacred picture has its place. Espe- 
cially is this the case in Russia. A traveller 
in the seventeenth century gives the same 
account of the veneration of pictures which 
is witnessed at the present time. "The Mus- 
covites are vastly attached to pictures, and 
they honor and bow down to them perpet- 
ually. In a whole army, there is not a single 



GOD'S WORSHIP. 



33 



man but carries in his knapsack a gaudy 
picture, with which, he never parts; and 
wherever he halts, he sets it up on a piece of 
wood and worships it." 

In domestic life the sacred picture assumes 
the place of the family Bible, of the wedding 
gift, of the birthday present, and of the an- 
cestral portrait. In the national life it is the 
flag which supports the courage and rotises 
the patriotism of the army. A dove is con- 
sidered a living picture of the Holy Spirit, 
and no Russian peasant will eat one. The 
same peculiarity presents itself in their 
churches, giving the whole interior an aspect 
very different from the appearance of Protes- 
tant churches. From top to bottom, from 
side to side, walls and xoof and columns are 
a mass of gilded pictures ; none of them of 
any artistic value, and yet each performs its 
own part of instruction and emblem, and 
bears a relation to the whole. These pic- 
tures are elaborate representations of Scrip- 
tural events, or parables and miracles of the 
New Testament, or legendary scenes. The 
prominent picture, and the one which is re- 
garded with the greatest veneration by the 

The Perfect Law. 3 



34 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



whole nation, is a representation of the last 
judgment. This scene is said to have con- 
verted from paganism, Vladimir the Great, 
who was the founder of the Russian empire.* 
Those who consult fortune-tellers violate 
this commandment ; because they seek the 
assistance of the devil to learn what God: is 
pleased to conceal. It becomes homage 
rendered to Satan, who has set himself up 
among men as the rival of Jehovah. If 
fortune-tellers could do any more than guess 
about the future, they must be aided by the 
powers of darkness ; and certainly God would 
not make known to them his purposes. Spir- 
itualism also is unlawful, since it rejects the 
Bible as the only rule of faith and practice, 
and seeks to be informed in a way God has 
never promised to reveal truth. A witch 
under the law of Moses was punished with 
death, just like an idolater. In the strongest 
terms the people w T ere forbidden to consult 
a wizard. Idolatry and witchcraft are ranked 
as similar sins, with which God was greatly 
displeased. And spiritualism, clairvoyance 
and the like must be classed in this category 

* Stanley's Eastern Church. 



GOD'S WORSHIP. 



35 



of witchcraft. Nor is the heathen who trusts 
his dumb idols more beguiled, than are those 
who turn away from the oracles of God and 
heed the rappings of spirits. 

This is not a harmless evil, its consequen- 
ces are pernicious. The peace of a thousand 
homes has been destroyed by the deadly 
errors inculcated by spiritualists. Many a 
brain has been unsettled by their startling 
jugglery. Souls have perished through such 
devices. The vain hopes begotten by for- 
tune-tellers unfit for the realities of life ; their 
predictions render the mind gloomy under 
the dread of anticipated ills. Lord Byron 
w T hen a boy, was warned by a fortune-teller, 
that he should die in the thirty-seventh year 
of his age. That idea haunted him in his 
last illness, and his physician declared that 
this prediction repressed that energy of 
spirit, which is so necessary in struggling 
with disease. 

True worshippers shall " w T orship the Fa- 
ther in spirit and in truth ; for the Father 
seeketh such to worship him." How are we 
to render this true spiritual worship? God 
has appointed certain religipus ordinances by 



36 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



which this is to be done. "Ye shall keep 
mine ordinances to walk therein ; I am the 
Lord your God." 

He has appointed prayer. Indeed every 
form of religion, even Mahometanism and 
Paganism, requires its adherents to take the 
place of humble suppliants. No religious 
service is more plainly taught in the Scrip- 
tures. The Saviour's example and the en- 
couraging promises made to the devout 
petitioner, prove abundantly the necessity of 
prayer. The frequent reference to the pray- 
ing of our Lord, should impress upon us the 
great need which struggling humanity has to 
implore divine help. If He were not too pure, 
too vase, too strong, and too exalted to pray ; 
assuredly we, weak and ignorant sinners, can- 
not attain unto eternal life, unless we also 
seek God. The penitent must go upon his 
knees to the cross, if he would be saved. 
Unless we ask, it will not be given unto us. 
Others cannot do our praying for us. 

We are to worship God in praise. This is 
an important part of Christian worship. Can 
the soul be lifted nearer heaven, while here 
on earth, than ip the rapture of spiritual 



GOD'S WOESHIP. 37 



songs? This constitutes a large part of tlie 
worship of heaven; and we should bear in 
mind when engaging in songs of praise to 
God, that we are approximating the worship 
of the heavenly hosts. With reverent joy, 
psalms and hymns should be sung. The sen- 
timent no less than the melody, should en- 
gage the heart. Nor should spiritual songs 
be restricted to public and social worship. 
In private devotion, God's praises should be 
suDg. David repeatedly cheered his heart in 
this way. At early dawn he tuned his harp, 
and met the rising sun with sacred strains. 
" Awake up, my glory, awake, psaltery and 
harp; I myself will awake early." 

God must be worshipped in the congre- 
gation. The Psalms abound in beautiful 
thoughts expressive of David's attachment to 
public worship. "How amiable are thy tab- 
ernacles, O Lord of hosts." " One thing have 
I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after ; 
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all 
the days of my life, to behold the beauty of 
the Lord, and to inquire in his temple." "A 
day in thy courts is better than a thousand. 
I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house 



38 



THE 



PERFECT LAW. 



of my God, than to dwell in the tents of 
wickedness." Those who habitually absent 
themselves from the house of God, do their 
own souls an injury. They deprive them- 
selves of much spiritual enjoyment. Some 
may suppose that they can be profited quite 
as much by staying at home, and reading 
and praying, as by attending divine worship. 
But a vigorous and well-balanced piety is not 
attained in this manner, except where the 
providence of God prevents attendance on 
public worship. " Thy creatures," said Bacon, 
"have been my books, but thy Scripture 
much more ; I have sought thee in fields and 
gardens, but I have found thee in thy tem- 
ples." 

' ' 0 happy souls that pray, 

Where God appoints to hear! 

O happy men that pay 

Their constant service there ! 

They praise thee still ; 
And happy they, that love the way 

To Zion's hill." 

One of the reasons given in this command- 
ment, w T hy we are to worship God, is that he 
is a jealous God. Jealousy is sinful w T here 
it envies the prosperity of another : but there 



GOD'S WOESHTP. 



39 



is a proper jealousy. A wife discovers that 
the affection of her husband has been won by 
another, and feels the wrong. Somewhat like 
this is the godly jealousy spoken of in the 
commandment. In the Old Testament this 
simile is frequently employed, that we may 
have some due apprehension of the exceed- 
ing heinousness of withholding our love and 
service from the Lord our God. By every 
consideration of duty and safety, we are 
bound to obey him. The affections of the 
heart he will not share with another. Any 
thing which abates our love, or diminishes 
our service becomes a rival to God, and just- 
ly calls forth his displeasure and wrath. In 
this sense he is a jealous God. 

But there is another reason assigned for 
worshipping Go'd, to which none can be in- 
sensible, "visiting the iniquities of the fathers 
upon the children unto the third and fourth 
generation of them that hate me; and show- 
ing mercy unto thousands of them that love 
me and keep my commandments." In such 
a connection this must mean, that the piety of 
parents is made a blessing to their children, 
while their irreligion becomes a curse. For 



40 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



though God will not in the next world punish 
children for the sins of their parents, there is 
generally in this life a relation between the 
religious character of parents, and that of 
their children. This is in accordance with 
laws which God has appointed. One of these 
is that the moral and religious character of 
the parent affects the child, by both educa- 
tion and example. The parent's conduct and 
teaching shape the character of the child. 
God in this commandment solemnly declares 
that he will not interfere to prevent this 
result. And as ungodliness, like a spiritual 
taint in the soul descends from sire to son, 
he may be said to visit " the iniquity of the 
fathers upon the children;" even as he does 
when penury and disease follow the crimes of 
parents. But the children who are thus vis- 
ited, are such only as walk in the wicked 
ways of their fathers, and thus approve their 
conduct, and appropriate their guilt by doing 
the same. 

• What an incentive does this present to 
parents to take heed to their ways ! If you 
love your children, secure for them heavenly 
blessings by a godly life. You may toil to 



GOD'S WORSHIP. 



il 



leave them an estate, but with it none of the 
blessedness of a life of prayer, and faith and 
righteous deeds. " The best way for any 
man to do his children good, is to be godly 
himself." "The seed of evil-doers shall 
never be renowned." Isa. 14 : 20. 

But let us rejoice that the threat is less 
extensive than the promise. " Visiting the 
iniquity of the fathers upon the children, 
unto the third and fourth generation of them 
that hate me ; but showing mercy unto thou- 
sands of them that love me, and keep my 
commandments." The curse may be ex- 
hausted by the third or fourth generation, 
but the blessing extends still farther. Al- 
though God is glorious in holiness, and ter- 
rible injustice, he is matchless in loving-kind- 
ness and tender mercy. His goodness en- 
dures longer than his wrath. 

"But thy compassions, Lord, 
To endless years endure ; 
And children's children ever rind 
Thy words of promise sure." 



42 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



III. 



GOD'S NAME. 



HOU SHALT NOT TAKE THE NAME OF 



THE j^ORD WILL NOT HOLD HIM GUILT- 
LESS THAT TAKETH HIS NAME IN 
VAIN. 

Like the two preceeding commandments, 
this relates to God. In the first we are in- 
formed who is the object of worship, God 
only. The second instructs us hoiv we are 
to worship him. And in the third we learn 
that he is to be regarded with all reverence 
and godly fear. 

The name of God implies God himself. It 
is the word or phrase which designates the 
Deity, as Jehovah, the Lord thy God. There 
are also titles by which he is described; 
Creator, Redeemer, Almighty, Omniscient, 
Eternal. These are called God's attributes, 




ORD THY 



jOd in vain: fof^ 



GOD ; S NAME. 43 

because they denote that which is peculiar to 
him. None of these is to be used in an irrev- 
erent manner. Such exclamations as by the 
Eternal, by the Almighty, violate this com- 
mandment, because God is appealed to on 
a trivial occasion, and in common speech. 
" Swear not at all, neither by heaven, for it is 
God's throne ; nor by the earth, for it is his 
footstool ; neither by Jerusalem, for it is the 
city of the great king." Among the Jews, 
"hardly any thing was regarded as an oath 
if only the name of God were not in it ; just 
as among ourselves, as Trench well remarks, 
a certain lingering reverence for the name of 
God leads to cutting off portions of his 
name, or uttering sounds nearly resembling 
it, or substituting the name of some heathen 
deity,"* (as by Jove.) 

The most awe-inspiring language is em- 
ployed in the Bible when God is mentioned. 
" The Lord passed by before him and pro- 
claimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful 
and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in 
goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thou- 
sands, forgiving iniquity, and transgression . 
* Brown on the Four Gospels. 



44 THE PERFECT LAW. 

# 

and sin, and that will by no means clear the 
guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers 
upon the children, and upon the children's 
children, unto the third and to the fourth 
generation. And Moses made haste, and 
bowed his head toward the earth and wor- 
shipped." Exodus 34:6-8. John, in vision, 
saw an imnumerable company of angels and 
saints, "Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is 
the Lamb that was slain to receive power, 
and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and 
honor, and glory, and blessing. And every 
creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, 
and under the earth, and such as are in the 
sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, 
Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, 
be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, 
and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." Rev. 
5:12, 13. 

This commandment forbids cursing and 
swearing. Cursing is that profane speaking 
which imprecates evil, and calls on God to 
inflict woes upon one's self or others. Pro- 
fane swearing is an unhallowed or blasphe- 
mous use of the names of God. Profanity is 
the term generally applied to cursing and 



GOD'S NAME. 



45 



swearing ; for the one is seldom separated 
from the other. 

It would naturally be supposed, that as 
the general influences of Christianity suffice 
to prevent the worship of idols in this 
land, they should also secure a reverence 
for the name of God. But in this respect we 
compare most unfavorably with Pagans. 
Veneration for the names and titles of their 
deities, was universal among the nations of 
antiquity. The nineteenth chapter of Acts 
gives an account of a great tumult, excited 
by the rumor that strangers had spoken 
against Diana of the Ephesians. When the 
renowned and successful Alcibiades profaned 
the name of the gods on the eve of battle, 
th^ Athenians indignantly refused to suffer 
him to march against the enemy, until he 
had atoned for his impiety by an offering. 
Those Mahometans who cannot read, care- 
fully lay aside every slip of paper upon which 
is writing or print, lest it should contain the 
name of God, and by destroying that paper 
they should dishonor his name. A mission- 
ary in Japan writes, " Oaths are the first 
English words which these heathen seem to 



46 



THE PERFECT LAW 



learn. I have heard Malays, Chinese, and 
Japanese, swearing in English. Indeed they 
have no oaths in their own language." Truly it 
is humiliating to learn that the language 
spoken by the larg^t number of missiona- 
ries of the cross, and by those who come 
from nations where the purest Christianity 
exists, should teach these pagans to take the 
name of the only true God in vain. 

The prevalence of profanity is alarming. 
It seems to be the common sin of the nation. 
"Because of swearing the land mourneth." 
Oaths are heard everywhere. Along the 
docks the stevedore swears, and his men 
respond in curses. On shipboard the captain 
gives his orders in oaths, and the seamen 
ascend the rigging, swearing the harder tjie 
higher they chmb. The smith curses as he 
beats the anvil, shoes the horse, rivets the 
boiler. The carpenter swears while he shoves 
the plane, turns the auger, draws the saw. 
The ploughman pours out his vexation in 
profane expressions when his horses turn 
from the furrow, or his plough strikes a stone. 
The teamster urges his animals with oaths as 
they tug up a steep hill. Profanity shocks 



GOD'S NAME. 



47 



your ears, when you walk the streets, or 
when you halt at a corner to greet a friend, 
or when you look out of a car-window at the 
depot. Among all classes and all ages swear- 
ers abound. They are found among mdn of 
gray hairs, who should think of soon meeting 
their Judge; and among men of families, 
who should consider the example they are 
setting those around them; and our youth 
indulge in this sin. "What was said of Scot- 
land thirty years ago, is true of us to-day : 
"In the commission of this heaven-daring 
sin, our own country has attained an infa- 
mous preeminence." 

Indeed profanity is an old sin of the Eng- 
lish, if not of the Saxon race. Becon, an 
English reformer who wrote about the year 
1540, speaks of the "most wicked and detest- 
able vice of swearing, which now reigns so 
greatly in every place, that I fear all admoni- 
tions, warnings, and counsels, are frustrate 
and vain." "How will the dicer swear," he 
says, " rather than lose one cast ! How will 
the card-player tear God in pieces, rather 
than he will lose the profit of one card. How 
will they that stand'by and behold, forswear 



48 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



themselves for the love they bear to one of 
the parties. And when the people are gath- 
ered together at any time to make merry; 
and when they are once set upon the ale- 
bench, and are well whittled in their brains, 
through the many cups that have been filled, 
how fall they then to swearing. He is taken 
for the jolliest fellow that can best swear." 
And two hundred years earlier, Wickliff, 
"the morning star of the Reformation," wrote 
a tract on the third commandment, which 
was circulated among the people ; in which 
he states, " from . a young child that can 
scarcely speak, to an old bearded man whom 
God has almost deprived of speech, this com- 
mandment is broken. For many have brought 
themselves into such a perilous custom, that 
they can scarcely speak a word, but they 
swear by God in vain, or by some of his 
creatures." The writings of his contempora- 
ries present the same sad picture. 

Profanity is the most useless of all wicked- 
ness. Of what service is it? Connected 
with other vices, we can see some advantage 
or sensual enjoyment. The liar may gain a 
temporary advantage by his falsehoods. The 



GOD'S NAME. 



49 



Sabbath-breaker spends the day to his liking. 
The thief may secure what he covets. The 
libertine gratifies his lust. But what sensual 
propensity or what desire of the heart is met 
by profanity ? Of what possible good is it ? 
What can be more senseless, indeed we 
might say idiotic, than for a manJ:o damn a 
stone because he strikes his foot against it, 
or the fire because it wilt not burn, or a log 
of wood because it is hard and knotty, or an 
animal because it will not go as bidden ? A 
moment's thought convinces of the absurdity 
of such a practice. 

In a sermon on this vice, Robert Hall, 
says : " The criminality of taking the Lord's 
name in vain is enhanced by the absence of 
every reasonable temptation. Swearing is 
not, like many other vices, productive of 
either pleasure or emolument ; it is neither 
adapted to gratify any natural appetite or 
passion. It is properly the superfluity of 
naughtiness, and can only be considered as 
a sort of pepper-corn rent in acknowledgment 
of the devil's right of superiority." 

By many, common conversation is inter- 
larded with profane expressions and exclama- 

The Perfect Law. 4c 



50 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



tions. The French and Germans are pain- 
fully addicted to this habit. Among the 
latter especially, it is indulged in, not alone 
by the irreligious, but also by the professedly 
pious. Ach Gott, mein Gott, seem almost 
essential to German conversation. These 
and similar expressions deserve severe con- 
demnation ; the practice is worse than use- 
less, it is an irreverent use of the divine 
name. Every form of speech that has even 
the appearance of irreverence should be 
avoided. 

Eeverence for God lies at the foundation 
of law, morality, and religion. And when 
the most solemn terms of religion are employ- 
ed in connection with light or angry express- 
ions, the tendency must be to blunt the 
moral and religious sensibilities of our na- 
ture ; and speedily to obliterate traces of 
seriousness from the mind. Swearers harden 
their hearts against the grace of Christ, and 
poison the community with irreligion. Every 
oath is a seed of ungodliness. 

Most of the swearer's oaths are prayers, 
-when the Almighty is invoked to damn, it is 
a request that God will consign the one 



GOD'S NAME. 



51 



danmed to eternal perdition. The Bev. Mr. 
Eomaine of London, in crossing Black Friar's 
Bridge, came up with a man who was calling 
upon God to damn his soul for Christ's sake, 
Mr. Eomaine laid his hand on the blasphe- 
mer's shoulder and said: "My friend, God 
has done many things for Christ's sake, and 
perhaps he will do that too." The reproof 
went to the swearer's heart, and resulted in 
his turning unto God. How many times has 
every profane person besought God to send 
him to eternal torment ! The thought is fear- 
ful ! 

We are assured most plainly, " the Lord 
will not hold him guiltless, that taketh his 
name in vain." The world may regard pro- 
fanity as no greats in, but the word of God 
passes a different sentence. It declares the 
profane to be grievous enemies of God, chil- 
dren of wrath, and captives of Satan. Unless 
they repent they shall suffer eternal woe. 
Indeed many instances are recorded where 
summary punishment has been inflicted, as 
though the wrath of the reviled Jehovah, had 
not waited to try the guilty offender before 
heaven's court ; but here on earth had arrest- 



52 THE PEEFECT LAW. 



ed the blasphemer amid the scenes of his 
cursing, and left a warning of the final retri- 
bution. Two soldiers at Chatham, England, 
once laid a wager w r hich could swear most 
oaths. After one of them had uttered many 
shocking ones, he hesitated a moment, and 
said he could think of one more which should 
be his last ; but he was instantly struck 
speechless, and so remained for three hours 
when he died. Augustine well says, " The 
murderer killeth the body of his brother; 
but the swearer murders his own soul." 

All good men have bewailed this vice. On 
the statute-books of many states, especially 
the older, blasphemy is an offence punisha- 
ble by fine. And this is proper. For, ought 
not the pious ear to be shielded, as well as 
the modest eye ? "We demand that no inde- 
cencies shall obtrude themselves upon the 
public gaze ; and it is important that words 
of obscenity and profanity shall not be per- 
mitted to corrupt society. But legislation 
alone cannot remove the evil. The people 
must be educated to frown on • profanity. 
The Sabbath will be best observed, when, in 
connection with legislation, public sentiment 



GOD'S NAME. 



reverences the holy clay. So in reference to 
profanity. Let prominent citizens, and all 
who have influence, not only themselves 
abandon the practice, but rebuke it wherever 
they can, and forbid it wherever they have 
the authority. Let them imitate the exam- 
ple of Washington, who says near the close 
of his memorable military order against 
swearing, "For the sake therefore of reli- 
gion, decency, and order, the general hopes 
and trusts that officers of every rank will 
use their influence and authority, to check 
a vice, which is as unprofitable, as W T icked 
and shameful." 

Have you formed this habit? Determine 
at once to break from its thraldom. Let no 
labor nor diligence nor mortification be too 
severe. Tour character before God and man 
is at stake. "Watch yourself. Put a guard 
upon your lips, lest you sin with your tongue. 
Said one : " An impatient and passionate 
temper, with a most sinful habit of profane 
swearing, in which I was a great proficient, 
were my most open and besetting sins. Again 
and again I tried to amend, but again and 
again did I fall from my own steadfastness. 



54 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



Temptation like a mighty wave broke my 
strength. Then in my private room I prayed 
and struggled. From that moment my beset- 
ting sin of swearing was overcome." 

There are other ways of breaking this com- 
mandment. Indignity offered even indirectly 
to God dishonors him. Improper deport- 
ment during public or social worship is of 
this nature. To read a paper, to turn over 
the leaves of a book, to look around and 
exchange glances and smiles, are acts of dis- 
respect to Jehovah. Though messages of 
grace come through human lips, they are 
God's good tidings of salvation ; and should 
be received with the decorum which a heav- 
enly voice requires. Equally solemn should 
be the deportment at a prayer-meeting, or 
wherever the Lord's people assemble for wor- 
ship. 

Unseemly behavior is generally the result 
^of thoughtlessness; but occasionally men 
grow so wicked as deliberately to mock God 
in worship. An incident of this kind oc- 
curred during a revival of religion. A god- 
less young man proposed to a number of his 
companions to assemble in his room for a 



prayer-meeting. A dozen came together for 
the awful purpose of mocking God by a pre- 
tence of worship. This young man presided, 
and called upon one and another to pray ; 
but though willing to be present they shrunk 
from an active participation in such a blas- 
phemous mockery. " Fools!" said one of 
them at length, " why are ye so fearful, O ye 
of little faith. I 'in not afraid. God can 't 
hurt me." Reading a few verses from Scrip- 
ture, he commenced to pray. But suddenly 
his voice ceased, and he fell back apparently 
in the agonies of death. He partially recov- 
ered, but soon became a raving maniac, in 
which condition he died. 

The introduction of sentences of Scripture 
into conversation, or a public address, in such 
a way as to excite laughter, or cast ridicule 
on the Bible, is contrary to the spirit of this 
commandment ; as also is all punning upon 
the words of Holy Writ. The remembrance 
of such witticisms clings to the sentence thus 
employed. Some precious thoughts of in- 
spiration have been defaced and fouled by 
this means. The Bible is God's holy truth, 
his thoughts of love towards us; and to make 



56 



THE PERFECT LAW 



an irreverent use of it, is certainly a direct 
insult to him. 

Perjury is another violation of this com- 
mandment. This has been well defined as 
" making a false oath, when lawfully admin- 
istered, in some judicial proceeding, by a 
person who wilfully swears falsely in a mat- 
ter material to the issue." If a man tell a 
falsehood about another outside of a court of 
justice, it is slander ; but if he swear to the 
same under oath, it becomes perjury. "Per- 
jury is falsehood confirmed with an oath." 
This kind of swearing is an appeal to God as 
a witness of the truth of what we say. The 
words of an oath are to this effect, "I do sol- 
emnly swear that I will speak the truth, the 
whole truth, and nothing but the truth ; so 
help me God." These are very solemn words 
to one who believes that God will bring him 
into judgment if he speak falsely. Such an 
oath is an acknowledgment of the omni- 
science and justice of the Most High. It is 
an appeal to him as the Searcher of hearts. 
Hence the oath should be given and received 
with great decorum, and not mumbled over 
hastily, as it is too commonly, 



GOD'S NAME. 



It is evident that an oath can only be ad- 
ministered to one believing in a God who will, 
reward and punish according to our deeds. 
It is mockery for an atheist to take an oath. 
To him it is not an oat li /and in courts of law, 
avowed atheists would not be permitted to 
testify as witnesses, since an oath cannot bind 
their conscience. 

Scripture enforces the strictest regard for 
an oath. Xo reservations or equivocations 
may be indulged. One must not change the 
character of his testimony, even though he 
swear to his own hurt. Psa. 15 :4 A good 
man feareth an oath. Eccles. 9 : 2. "We 
must not show partiality to friends, nor en- 
mity to foes. "Love no false oath." Zech. 
8 : 7. God takes cognizance of this sin, and 
will punish it. "I will be a swift witness 
against false swearers." Mai. 3 : 5. Paul 
speaks of perjured persons as under the con- 
demnation of the law, classing them with 
liars and murderers. 1 Tim. 1 : 10. 

Perjury is a great crime, the tendency of 
which is to unsettle the foundation of society, 
and to sow confusion broadcast among men. 
It is a wicked use of a solemn institution, 



58 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



the object of which is to ascertain the truth. 
Hence all nations have punished perjury 
with great rigor. By old English law the 
penalty was death. 

In this connection a brief reference may 
be made to vows. These are solemn prom- 
ises made to God, to be fulfilled on certain 
conditions. They are frequently made under 
the apprehension of danger, or when the 
mind is greatly agitated. A man promises 
to become a Christian, if he be raised from 
an alarming sickness ; or to devote a sum of 
money to charitable objects, if he be pros- 
pered in a certain undertaking. These and 
similar promises should by all means be kept. 
"Vow and pray unto the Lord." And yet 
many such solemn pledges are continually 
violated. God is greatly offended at such 
treachery. 

But men sometimes make foolish and even 
sinful vows, like those Jews w T ho- banded to- 
gether in a vow, that they would neither eat 
nor drink until they had killed Paul. Vows 
which lead to crime, or displease God, should 
be broken. The council of Toledo decreed 
that " it is better not to fulfil the vows of a 



GOD'S NAME. 



59 



foolish, promise, than by the observance of 
them to commit any wickedness." Herod 
was guilty in surrendering John the Baptist 
to the murderous hatred of Herodias, "for 
his oath's sake." "If it shall come to pass 
at any time that we swear or promise any 
thing unadvisedly, which being kept should 
turn unto an evil end, let us know that 
with more wholesome counsel, it ought to be 
changed freely, and without any scruple of 
conscience."- The solemn nature of a vow 
should teach us not rashly to bind ourselves, 
but to consider well the thing we promise to 
perform. 

* Bede. 



CO 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



IV. 

GOD'S DAY. 

JIememberthe JSabbath-day, to keep 

IT HOLY. jSlX DAYS SHALT THOU LA- 
BOR, AND DO ALL THY WORK: BUT 
THE SEVENTH DAY IS THE jSABBATH 
OF THE jwORD THY jGrOD : IN IT THOU 
SHALT NOT DO ANY WORK, THOU, NOR 
THY SON, NOR THY DAUGHTER, THY 
MANSERVANT, NOR THY MAIDSER- 
VANT, NOR THY CATTLE, NOR THY 
STRANGERTHAT IS WITHIN THY GATES! 
FOR IN SIX DAYS THE j^ORD MADE 
HEAVEN AND EARTH, THE SEA, AND 
ALL THAT IN THEM. IS, AND RESTED 
THE SEVENTH DAY: WHEREFORE THE 
JL.ORD BLESSED THE jS ABBATH-D AY, 
AND HALLOWED IT. 

God's division of time is into periods of 
seven days. Of these he grants us six for 
our own use, aind retains one for himself. 



GOD'S DAY. 



61 



But we must not infer from this, that during 
six days we need not think of God, and are 
exempt from his service ; that we may live 
as though there were no God during the 
week, if we show some respect for him on the 
Sabbath. Every day we are to remember 
our Creator and Preserver ; but one day we 
are required to devote exclusively to him. 

This law regarding the Sabbath took its 
appropriate place in the decalogue at Sinai, 
yet the day had been observed from the 
beginning, and was already intrenched in 
the affections of the godly. All through the 
generations of the patriarchs, and in subse- 
quent times, the seed of Abraham kept this 
clay. In the sixteenth chapter of Exodus, it 
is spoken of as a well-understood institution. 
" This is that which the Lord hath said, to- 
morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto 
the Lord." And in the thirteenth verse, "so 
the. people rested on the seventh day." It 
is to be observed that this was said while 
the people were journeying towards Sinai, 
and before the moral lav/ had been given. 
So that when this commandment of the Sab- 
bath was announced, it begins, " Remember 



G2 



THE, PERFECT LAW. 



the Sabbath clay." That is, yon already know 
about the clay, see to it, that yon continue to 
observe it sacredly. 

This shows that the Sabbath does not rest 
npon a mere law, bnt upon the nature of 
things as constituted by the All- wise. It did 
not for the first time come up in connection 
with Israel at Sinai, any more than did the 
command not to steal. Every precept of the 
decalogue had been binding from the crea- 
tion of man, and each had been observed 
by those who feared Gocl. It was always 
sinful to murder, and always sinful to break 
the Sabbath. The decalogue was God's for- 
mal utterance of what had been the conscien- 
tious convictions of all preceding generations. 
This fact of the antiquity of the Sabbath 
should be clearly understood, because there- 
by we shall the more plainly perceive, that 
its observance is intended to continue until 
the end of time. 

Two institutions were founded in Eclen for 
human welfare, one was the Sabbath, the 
other was marriage. In great mercy to the 
race of man, our parents were permitted to 
carry these with them, when they were ex- 



GOB'S DAY. 



63 



pelled from Paradise. Heavy as was the 
curse on the man and the woman, and woe- 
ful as that curse has made all generations, 
no tongue could describe the wretchedness 
of our condition, had marriage and the Sab- 
bath been lost among other blessings of 
Eden. By maintaining marriage in its puri- 
ty, and the due observance of the Sabbath, 
man approximates the condition in which his 
Creator placed him. He is the enemy of 
man, as well as of religion, who would abolish 
marriage, or set aside the Sabbath. 

The observance of the Sabbath does not 
rest upon vague speculations, the arguments 
which commend it to us are neither scanty 
nor weak. Infidelity grapples with a stronger 
foe than at first sight appears, when it assails 
the day of the Lord. Only a few of these 
arguments can be introduced here.* 

It is God's commandment. An impression 
has been created in some minds, that the Sab- 
bath is a day appointed by the church ; and 

* Gilfillan on the Sabbath, a book replete with instruc- 
tion, has been published by the American Tract Society ; 
it should be read by all, and especially in these days, when 
giant efforts are made to subvert the Sabbath. 



61 



THE PEEFECT LAW. 



that its observance is as much optional, as is 
the observance of Christmas or Easter. But 
the position of the fourth commandment for- 
bids such a supposition. It stands nearly in 
the centre of a list of divine regulations, which 
are to control man's worship of God, and his 
duties toward his fellow-beings. By what 
authority may any mortal erase one of these 
rules? "Who has authorized the blotting out 
of the fourth, any more than the second or 
the eighth ? If the law of the Sabbath is not 
binding, how then is the law of murder? 
This is not exclusively a Jewish law. The 
social and political regulations delivered to 
Moses when in secret council with Jehovah 
on the mount, were for Israel; but these laws 
spoken in the hearing of the people, and 
written on the tables of stone, were for ail 
men even unto the end of the world. 

Some object that we have already subvert- 
ed this command, since we do not keep the 
seventh day of the week. But the spirit and 
just requirement of the precept is fully met 
by the observance of one seventh portion of 
time. The first clay of the week is the Chris- 
tian Sabbath, because upon that day the 



GOD'S DAY. 



65 



Lord Jesus Christ arose from the dead, thus 
creating a new era in the earth's history. 
God rested the day following the creation of 
the world, and that day became hallowed. 
Jesus Christ arose from the grave on the 
first day of the week, thereby finishing his 
work of atonement ; and that day is blessed 
and made holy unto the Lord. Hence we 
name it the Lord's day. As far back as we 
can go, even to the apostles, we find that this 
day had taken the place of the Jewish Sab- 
bath. 

In this commandment God enumerates par- 
ticulars, as he does not in the other precepts 
of the decalogue. The very persons are 
mentioned, who are not to be permitted to 
work even if they desired to labor ; none of 
the family, nor the servants, nor the guest in 
the house. Even the domestic animals which 
serve man, are to share in this repose; "that 
thine ox and thine ass may rest." God de- 
signed that all his creatures in all parts of 
his earthly dominions should be undisturbed ; 
that the fowls of the air should not be start- 
led by the sportsman's shot ; that the fish of 
the waters should not be tempted by the 

The Forfect Law. 5 



66 THE PERFECT LAW. 

angler's bait; that the wild beast should not 
be roused from his lair by the hunter's shout. 
This holy day ought to be the weekly lull in 
that oppressive rule, which sin has taught 
men to exercise over "every living thing.' , 
And he is an extortioner, who deprives the 
brutes of this day of rest and safety, which 
is their inalienable right, conferred by that 
same Creator who bestowed them on man 
for his use. 

In this commandment we are shown the 
equity of God's demand, " Six days sh alt thou 
labor and do all thy work, but the seventh is 
the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." As though 
he said, "Six days are yours, and they are 
enough for work : your Sovereign and Bene- 
factor asks only one for himself. And that 
day is his, you have no right to it. It is his 
tribute money for your preservation." Every 
Sabbath-breaker robs God of his dues. 

Special honor is bestowed on this law of 
the Sabbath in the fact that God himself is 
represented as observing it in the first in- 
stance. " In six days the Lord made heaven 
and earth, the sea and all that in them is, 
and rested the seventh day'' He was • not 



GOD'S DAY. 



67 



wearied, and therefore in need of rest ; but 
having completed creation at the close of the 
sixth day, he made the next day sacred to 
himself, upon which to receive the homage 
of angels and men for what .he had formed. 
The hosts of heaven could rejoice over that 
work then finished, and which during six 
days they had watched with wonder and 
adoration, as from chaos onward through 
succeeding stages, the earth advanced, toward 
perfection. And the morning's sun which 
awoke Adam from his first night's slumber 
was the sun of the Sabbath, calling him to 
engage in the work of adoration and praise. 
The day which dawned upon a completed 
creation was the holy Sabbath. Thus was 
established a rule for all the generations of 
men, that after the work of six days we are to 
pause, and spend one in the worship of God. 

And God " blessed the Sabbath day." He 
has sanctified it with his benediction as he has 
not any other day of the week. "Well does 
Ignatius call it, " the prince and sovereign of 
daj^s." The Sabbath is designated among 
those things which are endeared to God. Of 
these the. first three are God's book, God's 



63 THE PERFECT LAW. 



people, and God's day. His book and his 
day are continually before his people, that 
they may obey the one, and observe the 
other. Hence the Sabbath is often referred 
to in the Scriptures. Moses, David, Isaiah, 
Jeremiah, and Ezekiel speak of it. God 
declares he will most certainly punish a 
violation of this day. And with equal dis- 
tinctness a blessing is pronounced on those 
who observe it. "Blessed is the man that 
doeth this, and the son of man that layeth 
hold on it ; that keepeth the Sabbath from 
polluting it." Isaiah 56 : 2. "If thou turn 
away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing 
thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the 
Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, 
honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing 
thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleas- 
ure, nor speaking thine owtl words ; then 
shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord, and I 
will cause thee to ride upon the high places 
of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage 
of J acob thy father ; for the mouth of the 
Lord hath spoken it." Isaiah 58:13, 14. 
" Thus saith the Lord, take heed to your- 
selves, and bear no burden on che> Sabbath- 



GOD'S DAY. 



69 



day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusa- 
lem : neither carry forth a burden out of your 
houses on the Sabbath-day, neither do ye 
any "work, but hallow ye the Sabbath-day 
as I commanded your fathers. . . . But if 
ye will not hearten unto me to hallow the 
Sabbath-day, and not to bear a burden, even 
entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on 
the Sabbath-day; then will I kindle a fire in 
the gates thereof, and it shall devour the 
palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be 
quenched." Jer. 17:21, 22, 27. See also 
Ezek. 22:28, and 23:38. 

Another reason for keeping the Sabbath 
is that neither man nor beast can thrive icithout 
the rest of that day. This is proved beyond all 
denial, by actual experiment. A manufac- 
turing company kept their teams employed 
seven days in the week, as that was the time 
required to go to the market and return. 
After several years, a change was made, when 
it was found that by permitting the animals 
to rest on the Sabbath, they could be driven 
the same distance in six days, and be kept 
in better condition. 

Several drovers started from Ohio with 



70 



THE PERFECT LAW, 



cattle for Philadelphia. It had been their 
custom for years to drive every day of the 
week. One of them at last was convinced of 
the duty of resting on the Sabbath. So on 
Saturday afternoon he obtained pasture and. 
prepared to remain over until Monday. His 
comrades were greatly surprised, that he 
should thus incur the loss of a whole day. 
Finding that their expostulation was of no 
avail, they went on. But in the course of the 
week he overtook them. The next Sabbath, 
while he was resting his drove, they passed 
him. But during that week he again over- 
took them. And in the end he reached the 
city, in advance of his associates, while his 
cattle were in much better condition than 
theirs. They frankly admitted the success of 
the experiment, and the advantage of keep- 
ing the fourth commandment. 

"When laboring men work on the Sabbath, 
there is nothing gained. This was tested 
in England on a large scale in a manufac- 
turing town. For several years ten thou- 
sand men were employed seven days of the 
week. To make them contented with this 
arrangement, double wages were paid on Sun- 



GOD'S DAY. 



71 



clay. But they could not be kept healthy 
nor moral ; and all relating to the establish- 
ment fell into confusion. A new superin- 
tendent assumed charge of the works, who 
insisted upon the observance of the Sabbath. 
And it was soon found, that more could be 
accomplished in the week, while there was 
a decided improvement in the health and 
morals of the operatives. 

A committee was appointed by the Legis- 
lature of Pennsylvania, to inquire concern- 
ing the employment of laborers on the state 
works. They reported, as the result of their 
investigations, that both man and beast could 
do more work by resting one day in seven, 
than by working all the time. 

At a meeting of the New Haven Medical 
Association, it was unanimously agreed, after 
a full discussion, that men who labor but six 
days in the week, will be more healthy, and 
live longer, other things being equal, than 
those who labor seven. 

Said a merchant who for twenty years was 
engaged in a very extensive business, "if it 
had not been for the Sabbath, I should have, 
been in my grave long ago." 



72 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



These statements, and scores of similar 
proofs, settle the question whether we lose 
by keeping the Sabbath. Labor on that day 
will be at the sacrifice of health and of suc- 
cess. 

The distinguished jurist and Christian, 
Sir Matthew Hale, gives a very decided tes- 
timony on this point, in his counsel to his 
children. 

" I will acquaint you with a truth that 
above forty years' experience and strict ob- 
servation of myself hath assuredly taught 
me : 

"1. Whenever I have undertaken any sec- 
ular business on the Lord's day, which was 
not absolutely necessary, that business never 
prospered well with me. 

"2. Nay, if I had but 'set myself to forecast 
or design any temporal business to be done 
or performed afterwards, though such fore- 
casts were just and honest in themselves, 
and had as fair a prospect as could be ex- 
pected, yet I have always been disappointed 
in the effect of it, or in the success of it. So 
that it almost grew proverbial with me, when 
any importuned me to secular business on 



GOD'S DAY. 



73 



that day, to answer thern, that if they expect- 
ed to succeed amiss, then they might desire 
kit undertaking it on that day. 
T "3. That always the more closely I applied 
myself to the duties of the Lord's day, the 
more happy and successful were my business 
and employments of the week following. So 
that I could, froni a strict or a loose obser- 
vance of that day, take a just prospect and 
true calculation of my temporal success in 
the ensuing week. Though my hands and 
mind have been so full .of secular business, 
both before and since I was judge, yet I 
never wanted time in my six days, to ripen 
and fit myself for the business I had to do ; 
though I borrowed not one moment from 
the Lord's day to prepare for it, by study 
or otherwise. , But on the other hand if I 
had at any time borrowed from this day 
any time for my secular employments, I 
found it did further me less than if I had 
left it alone." 

The Sabbath is a sacred day of quiet for 
man and beast. Society closes its stores, 
puts out its furnaces, dismisses its toilers, 
and the hum of industry, the music of six 



74 



THE PEBFECT LAW. 



days, ceases, while in its stead arise anthems 
of praise. Man abides at home. It is the day 
for all the members of a household to come 
together, and enjoy "the sweets of domestic 
comfort. It is the day for the father, who is 
necessarily absent on other days, to gather 
the children about him and learn what they 
have done during the week. Then he should 
observe the progress they have made in good 
or evil. Then should the Bible be read, and 
all should engage in that reading. Sabbaths 
thus spent may be^ rendered cheerful, and 
become the happiest day of the week for the 
family. President Lincoln's mother read the 
Bible to her family every day, and on the 
Sabbath, much of the time was spent in this 
way. Books were few in their Kentucky 
cabin. 

It need not be a matter of surprise, that a 
disregard for the Sabbath is like the letting 
out of the waters of sin. It is often the first- 
step in a course of wickedness. One who 
was conversant with prisoners for more than 
thirty years, stated that he found in all his 
experience, both with those who had been 
capitally convicted and with those who had 



GOD'S DAY. 



75 



not, that they referred to the violation of the 
Sabbath as the chief cause of their crimes. 
Like the use of intoxicating liquors, it great- 
ly increases public and private immorality. 
Men forsake God, and he forsakes them. 
He takes away the restraints of his provi- 
dence, and they are filled .with the fruit of 
their own doings. 

A murderer stood upon a scaffold and said 
to a great crowd assembled before him, 
"My friends, you have come to see a man 
die. Let me advise you to take warning by 
me. The beginning of my ruin was Sabbath- 
breaking. This led me into bad company, 
from bad company I went to drinking, from 
drinking to robbing gardens and orchards, 
from this to house-breaking, and from this to 
murder. Thus I have been brought to my 
sad condition. Many of you are young, in 
an especial manner let me warn you to be- 
ware of Sabbath-breaking." 

The common excuse is, "I am at work all 
the week, and the Sabbath is my only day 
for pleasure." Can a law of God be broken 
with impunity, in order that we may enjoy 
ourselves? On this ground every species of 



78 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



wickedness may be palliated, and men may 
boldly break any precept of the decalogue, 
pleading as an apology their own pleasure. 
Is our gratification more to be regarded than 
a command of God? But a Sabbath spent 
according to the Divine appointment will 
afford the purest and highest enjoyment. In 
the sanctuary, and in religious duties, we 
shall secure the richest pleasure, such as will 
not leave an aching head, nor a wearied 
frame, nor shameful remembrances. Who 
awakes on Monday freshest, and most invig- 
orated for the week's work, the Sabbath- 
breaker, or the Sabbath-keeper? 

Let every young man form an unalterable 
resolution to obey this commandment. Let 
no temptation of money-making draw him 
into an occupation which violates%he sancti- 
ty of the Lord's day. Not even the persua- 
sion or demands of an employer should move 
him from this fixed purpose. It is better to 
obey God than man. 

When Nicholas Biddle was president of 
the old United States Bank, and possessing 
immense influence, he requested a young 
clerk to do some writing on the Sabbath. 



GOD'S DAY. 



77 



The youth respectfully replied, that he could 
not without violating his conscience. This 
answer so provoked Mr. Biddle that he told 
the clerk, if he did not comply with the order 
he must leave his situation! He remained 
firm, and went home with a heavy heart to 
his sisters, and widowed mother who were 
depending on his earnings. But he and they 
were sustained in that dark hour by the be- 
lief, that it was better to suffer for doing- 
right, than to enjoy the fruits of sin for a 
season. The next week Mr. Biddle was asked 
whom he could recommend as cashier for a 
neighboring Bank. At once he spoke of this 
young man, and mentioned the occurrence of 
the preceding week, adding, "you can trust 
him, for he would not work on Sunday." 
This shows, not that such adherence to the 
right will always be so soon rewarded, but 
that ungodly men are constrained to respect 
and confide in those who will not violate the 
Lord's day even for gain. 

How is the Sabbath to be kept? Probably a 
better answer cannot be given, than that 
contained in the shorter Catechism of the 
Westminster divines : " The Sabbath is to 



78 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



be sanctified by a holy resting all that clay, 
even from such worldly employments and 
recreations as are lawful on other days; and 
spending the whole time in the public and 
private exercises of God's worship, except so 
much as is to be taken up in works of neces- 
sity and mercy." It is to be spent as a day 
of rest, and of worship. This is the* Chris- 
tian's choice day. He longs for its coming. 
He welcomes its quiet morning. He loves 
the retirement from the din of worldly busi- 
ness, and the inroads of worldly men, and 
rejoices in the opportunity it furnishes him, 
for prayer, religious reading, and medita- 
tion. 

We must refrain from all secular duties. 
Among the worldly employments from which 
we must rest on the Sabbath are " plough- 
ing, sowing, reaping, bearing burdens, buy- 
ing and and selling, working at one's ordinary 
calling,, reading newspapers or profane his- 
tory, studying the arts and sciences, writing 
letters about worldly business, making up 
bills or accounts, unnecessary journeying on 
this day, walking in the fields or highways 
for diversion or pleasure, conversing about 



GOD'S DAY. 



79 



trade, bargains, profits and losses, feasting 
and visiting of friends, and unnecessary prep- 
aration of food." 

"The Sabbath was made for man," there- 
fore, as our Saviour teaches, there are works 
of necessity and mercy to be performed on 
that day. But this necessity does not extend 
to working during harvest. For however we 
may argue about the allowableness, lest grain 
or hay be spoiled, God has solved the ques- 
tion in an injunction laid upon his own Israel, 
who were an agricultural people. " Six days 
shalt thou work, but on the seventh day thou 
shalt rest ; in earing [ploughing] time, and 
in harvest thou shalt rest." Exodus 34:21. 
And the lesson to all of whatever occupation 
is, that we must observe the Sabbath in the 
busiest season of the year. 

Travelling may not be included among 
works of necessity. Even on a long journey, 
we should rest on the Sabbath, if possible; 
and in setting out, we should make our 
arrangements in reference to this. 

While John Quincy Adams was President, 
he was stopped at Boston by a heavy fall of 
snow, when on his way to his family. The 



80 



THE PERFECT LAW 



roads became passable for the first time on 
the Sabbath. He was then only twenty miles 
from home. And in the opinion of some 
pious men, the circumstances of his detention, 
and the sickness of his family justified his 
travelling on that day. Mr. Adams thought 
differently and said, "The justifiable occasion 
in this case would not prevent the bad influ- 
ence of my example on those who might see 
me travelling without knowing the cause." 
He therefore waited until Monday. 

Social visiting and calling are violations of 
this commandment. They interrupt the quiet 
of the Sabbath, and prevent attendance on 
public worship. Additional work is imposed 
on those visited, and the Lord's day is made 
a scene of confusion. We are not to seek 
recreation and social pleasures on the Lord's 
day. These interfere with the religious char- 
acter of the Sabbath. 



THE FAMILY. 81 

V. 

THE FAMILY. 

j^ONOR THY FATHER AND THY MOTHER', 
THAT THY DAYS MAY BE LONG UPON 
THE LAND. WHICH THE J^ORD THY 
(3-OD GIYETH THEE. 

Thus far we have considered the first table 
of the law, wherein are announced these four 
truths — God, God's worship, God's name, 
and God's day, revealing what we are to do 
and what we are to believe concerning him. 
These* were written upon one of the two tab- 
lets of stone, which contained the decalogue. 
Upon the other, man's duties to his fellow- 
men were inscribed, 

" Sins against this second table," says 
Sibbs, " grieve more than sins against the 
first ; because here the conscience is more 
awaked. These are sins against a multiplied 
light,- against the light of nature, light of the 
Word and Spirit. And such sins are contrary 

The Perfect Law. 6 



82 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



to human society, they dissolve those bonds 
that nature, even by the common relics it 
hath left, studies to maintain. Though cor- 
rupt nature hath no good in it, yet God 
intending to have civil society, preserveth 
in man's nature a hatred of sins that over- 
throw society. Such sins therefore' as mur- 
der and theft, being committed against more 
light, wound more. Therefore God often 
gives up men, upon breach of the first table, 
to breaches of the second, that so they may 
come to more grief and shame, as being the 
breakers of both tables. Men never fall 
into the breach of the second, but upon the 
breach of the first. No man despiseth man's 
law, but he despiseth God's law first. No 
man breaks the lav/ of nature, but he despis- 
eth the God of nature."* 

These relative duties begin in the family. 
That is the cradle of the race. Hence God 
opens that portion of the decalogue which 
defines the mutual relations of men, with a 
statute for the family. This position of the 
fifth commandment shows the importance 
God puts on the family. He assigns it a 

* Sibbs' Fountain Sealed. 



THE FAMILY. 



83 



place next to himself. For after God, our kin- 
dred have the strongest claim upon us. "He 
that provideth not for his own hath denied 
the faith, and is worse than an infidel." 
This is to be "without natural affection." 
and that is worse than the brutes. When 
a man disclaims the obligations which bind 
him to his home, and prefers scenes of revel- 
ry and dissipation ; virtue, thrift, and domes- 
tic happiness will soon be destroyed in a 
general ruin. A father should have no other 
boon companions but children and wife. 

The family is composed of parents and 
children. These have their respective duties. 
Let us consider. 

1. What are parents to do ? 

They must comply with their own rules. This, 
God the Father of us all does. We never 
discover in him any contradiction between 
precept and practice. And in the family, 
teaching and training must be by example, 
as well as by words. How can we train our 
children to go to church, when we stay at 
home? How can we expect them to read the 
Bible, when they do not see us peruse its 
pages? Can we hope that they will be gen- 



84 



THE PERFECT LAW 



tie when we are morose? that they will be 
patient when we are irritable ? that they will 
spend their evenings at home, when we neg- 
lect our own fireside ? that they will be vir- 
tuous, when we are vicious? Parents must 
comply with their own teachings and com- 
mands. 

Having rules these must be judiciously 
administered; that is, Hie family must be gov- 
erned. Children should understand that the 
regulations of the household and the prin- 
ciples of parental rule are permanent — not 
to be rigorously enforced to-day, and set 
aside to-morrow. Discipline should be im- 
bued with kindness and gentleness. Reproof 
must not degenerate into scolding, for then 
the heart is embittered, while the conscience 
is not moved. A just rebuke was adminis- 
tered by the boy; who having done wrong, 
said, " Mother, whip me, but do not scold me." 
Some parents allow themselves to show pas- 
sion when a child tears its clothes or breaks 
any thing. "What shall I dor" exclaimed 
a little girl, who let a pitcher drop from her 
hands, and there it lay in fragments at her 
feet. In a moment she added : " I know 



THE FAMILY. 



85 



what I will do. I will wait till some clay 
when mother has company before I tell her, 
and then she will not scold me so hard." 
The controlling motive should be the good 
of the family. Let parents study the things 
which will most conduce to render their home- 
circle cheerful, attractive, and happy. Home 
can be made an earthly paradise, or a den 
of discontent and wrangling. There is an old 
saying, that hearth-fires keep away wolves. 
So the cheerfulness of home keeps away the 
howling wolves of temptation. Bind a child 
to its home, and the theatre and saloon will 
have few attractions. 

The charge Paul gave to Timothy is appli- 
cable to parents. " Be instant in season, 
out of season: reprove, rebuke, exhort, with 
all long-suffering and doctrine." 

Lord Shaftesbury stated in a public meet- 
ing in London, that from personal observa- 
tion he had ascertained that of the adult* 
male criminals of that city, nearly all had 
fallen into a course of crime between the 
ages of eight and sixteen ; and that, if a 
young man lived an honest life up to twenty 
years of age, there were forty-nine chances 



86 THE PERFECT LAW, 

in favor, and only one against him as to an 
honorable life thereafter. 

How assiduously should parents apply 
themselves to their great work ! Nor should 
the rod be absolutely excluded from family 
discipline. Children are no better by nature, 
nor more easily controlled than vrhen Solo- 
mon wrote, " Foolishness is bound up in the 
heart of a child, but the rod of correction 
shall drive it far from him." Has any boy 
grown up to a lovely manhood, who has never 
felt the rod? 

The son of too indulgent parents left home 
and went into evil ways. They were heart- 
broken at his conduct, and continually wrote 
him letters full of entreaties to leave his sin- 
ful career. On one occasion he received a 
letter which seemed to move his heart, and 
he sat a few moments lost in thought, Sud- 
denly he arose, and threw the letter into the 
fire exclaiming, "Let them warn, and pray, 
and weep, it is of no use. A good whipping- 
well laid on ten years ago, would have done 
more to save me." 

And yet parents.must not fall into the error 
of governing with the rod, That discipline 



THE FXYHLY. 



87 



is weak which only secures obedience by a 
threat. Children may come to honor the rod, 
and fear it more than they rever the parent. 
Luther remarks. " It is right to punish chil- 
dren, but at the same time we must love 
them." 

It is cruel to leave a child to itself. You 
would not take away the mother-bird, and 
leave the fledglings to care for themselves. 
And to deprive a child of that discipline, 
which shall control the passions and shape 
the habits, is the greatest wrong that can be 
inflicted upon it. A misplaced tenderness 
frequently exempts a weakly child from its 
necessary share of restraint. Because it is 
frail, it is indulged, and grows up a spoiled 
child. 

The mother of a delicate little girl ; who 
was subject to fits on any excitement, was 
told by physicians to keep her as quiet as 
possible, and never let her be crossed. This 
course made her peevish, irritable, and stub- 
born. After earnest prayer for guidance, the 
mother decided to govern her gs she did the 
other children. The little, girl was told that 
henceforth she must ohefy or be punished. 



88 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



One day a command was laid upon her 3 but 
the child paid no attention to it. Punish- 
ment was inflicted, and yet the stubborn will 
refused to yield. It was repeated again and 
again, the mother's heart' crying to God for 
help. At last the offender was completely 
subdued, and afterwards became an obedient, 
and loving child. That mother lived to hear 
lier say — "I thank you for punishing me that 
day. If you had not, I should have grown 
up wilful, and have died in my sins ; but now 
I am going to Jesus." 

"A parent's heart may prove a snare ; 
The child she loves so well 
Her hand may lead vrith gentlest care 
Down the smooth road to hell. 1 ' 

To government must be added moral and 
religious care. Upon parents especially, God 
imposes the religious teaching of their, chil- 
dren. This must not be left to others. From 
the parents* own lips the child should hear 
the great truths of the gospel. The arch- 
deacon of London on one occasion was cate- 
chizing the children of Queen Victoria, and 
being surprised at the accuracy of their an- 
swers, said to th£ youngest prince. k '*' Your 



THE FAMILY. 



89 



governess deserves great credit for instruct- 
ing you so thoroughly in the catechism." 
The boy immediately replied, "Oh, but it is 
mamma who teaches us the catechism." Pa- 
rents should also superintend the private 
devotions of their children, and not leave this 
duty to others. 

The Bible is the treasury of all religious 
knowledge, and the infallible standard of 
right and wrong. From tender years chil- 
dren should be taught that "the testimony 
of the Lord is sure making wise the simple." 
The obedience they are required to render, 
the evils th'ey are exhorted to shun, the truths 
they are to believe should all be traced to 
the Holy Scriptures, and shown to be the 
commands of God. 

"The mother of a family was married to 
an infidel, who made sport of religion in the 
presence of his own children ; yet she suc- 
ceeded in bringing them all up in the fear 
of the- Lord. I asked her one day how she 
preserved them from the influence of a fa- 
ther, whose sentiments were so opposed to 
her own. This was her answer. ' Because 
to the authority of & father, I do not oppose 



90 THE PEBFECT LAY;. 

the authority of a mother, but that of God. 
From their earliest years, my children have 
always seen the Bible upon my table. This 
holy book has constituted the whole of their 
religious instruction. Did they propose a 
question, did they commit a fault, did they 
perform a good action, I opened the Bible, 
and the Bible answered, reproved, or encour- 
aged them. The constant reading of the 
Scriptures has wrought the prodigy which 
surprises you."* 

Children should be required to read a por- 
tion of the Bible every day. And it is desi- 
rable to have them read the Scriptures in 
course, that they may thus acquire a knowl- 
edge of every part. 

To all these efforts prayer must be added. 
Like Job, parents should bring their chil- 
dren's sins to the throne of grace. They 
should pray for them at ail times, in the 
sanctuary, in the family, and in the closet. 
John Xewton tells of the mother of eleven 
pious children who said, "X never took one 
of them to my breast without praying that I 
might never nurse a child for the devil." 

* Adolph ?>Ionod. 



THE FAMILY 



01 



2. Let us now consider what childeex are 
to clo. 

They a*e to obey. This is the first and 
great lesson of youth. God makes obedience 
a fundamental principle. It pervades the 
family, extends through society, and is the 
great law binding on all rational creatures. 
Disobedience made hell. We need to be 
trained to obedience, since by nature we are 
wilful, and like Israel of old, stifinecked. 
Usefulness and happiness are impossible un- 
til we learn to obey. And God in wisdom has 
ordained that we shall begin to learn obedi- 
ence, where it is most easily and pleasantly 
rendered — at home. Our Lord and Saviour 
has set us the example of compliance with 
this law of the family. He was " subject to 
his parents," and this too at an age when 
many lads are inclined to think they should 
enjoy liberty, and are impatient of constraint. 
Thus this commandment, " Honor thy father 
and thy mother," comes to us, approved, illus- 
trated, and enforced by the filial conduct of 
him, who "fulfilled all righteousness." 

Many a young man has passed uncontami- 
nated through severe temptations, by a faith- 



92 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



ful adherence to promises solemnly made to 
parents. 

A mother on the green hills of» Vermont, 
stood at her garden gate, holding by his 
right hand a son of sixteen years, fired with 
a love of the sea. " Edward," she said, "they 
tell me that the greatest temptation of the 
seaman's life is strong drink. Promise me 
before you let go your mother's hand, that 
you will never drink intoxicating liquors." 
He gave that pledge. He sailed the broad 
globe over; and during forty years, when- 
ever he saw a glass filled with the sparkling 
draught, his mother's form by the garden- 
gate rose before him ; and at the age of sixty, 
his lips had never touched the inebriating 
cup. Promises thus kept are like a guardian 
angel to the tempted. 

Hon. Thomas Benton, for many years con- 
spicuous in the Senate of the United States, 
said in a speech in New York: "My mother 
requested me never to use tobacco, and I 
have never touched it from that day to this. 
She asked me never to gamble, and I never 
learned to gamble. When I was seven years 
old, she asked me not to drink liquors. I 



THE FAMILY. 



93 



made a resolution of total abstinence. That 
resolution I have never broken. And now 
whatever service I have been able to render 
my country, or whatever honor I may have 
gained, I owe it to my mother." And thus 
the best and most honored men lay their 
laurels in their mother's lap. 

We are to love our parents. Indeed we 
are unnatural children if we do not. Con- 
sider all. they have done for us, the many 
anxious hours and sleepless nights, the com- 
forts they have denied themselves to con- 
tribute to our success and happiness ; the 
hard work they have cheerfully performed in 
order to support us. Especially is this the 
case with a mother. Her life is in her chil- 
dren. Though they grow to men and women, 
her heart yearns over them almost with the 
same solicitude she felt in their childhood. 
We do not realize the value of a good mother 
until she has ceased from her labors. Let 
her receive the obedience and enjoy the love, 
which her increasing affection deserves. Un- 
kindness to a mother implants a "thorn which 
no repentance can extract. 

If this love and reverence are due more 



94 THE PERFECT LAW. 

at one time than at another, it certainly 
is when the mother is bereaved of her stay 
and staff, and is called to shed a widow's 
tears. Then her children, and especially her 
sons, may greatly lighten her sorrow, or in- 
calculably aggravate it. Then should they 
with manly honor watch her every wish, nor 
by act or word grieve her heart. They should 
be more respectful, more patient, and more 
loving if possible, than they were during the 
father's lifetime. Tennyson beautifully ex- 
presses a similar thought in his address to 
the widowed queen of England. 

"The love of all thy sons encompass thee, 
The love of all thy daughters cherish thee, 
The love of all thy people comfort thee, 
Till God's love set thee at his side again." 

Beverence is another duty. This is never 
to cease or wane, but rather with the advan- 
cing years of parents it should increase. 
No consciousness of present superiority can 
exempt from this duty. However high in, 
station the son may rise, he can never get 
be3 r ond the duty of honoring his parents. 

J ohn Tillotson, for many years archbishop 
of Canterbury, w T as of humble parentage. 



THE FAMILY. 



95 



Upon the marble doorstep of his palace one 
clay stood an old man clad in the homespun 
of a countryman, and leaning on a staff while 
the wind waved his white locks. He knocked 
and the door opens. " 1$ John Tiliotson at 
home?" he asks. The servant, amazed to 
hear his master inquired for in such a man- 
ner, is silent ; for the common phrase was, 
"Is his lordship at home." The old man 
repeats in more earnest tones, " Is John Til- 
iotson at home?" "Yes, yes," responded a 
voice from the study, and the bishop in his 
robes darted through the hall, calling, " It is 
my worthy father. Yes, yes, your son John 
Tiliotson is here." Then with tears of joy, 
in the presence of his astonished servants, 
he kneeled before his father and craved his 
blessing. 

Long before him a wiser and a greater 
man had set such an example of filial love. 
When Bathsheba appeared before her son 
Solomon, as he sat surrounded by his bril- 
liant court, he laid aside all the ceremonies 
which oriental monarchs require of those 
approaching them ; and assumed to be only 
a son in the presence of his mother. -"He 



96 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



rose up to meet her, and bowed himself unto 
her, and sat down on his throne, and caused 
a seat to be set for the king's mother: and 
she sat on his right hand." 

Among the good resolutions of Jonathan 
Edwards, formed in his twentieth year, this 
occurs, " never to allow the least measure of 
any fretting or uneasiness at my father or 
mother." Even where parents are wrong, 
and ill-tempered or wicked, the speech and 
demeanor of their children towards them 
should be mild and respectful. 

Let us now consider the reward — "that thy 
days may be long upon the land which the 
Lord thy God giveth thee." Paul denomi- 
nates the fifth commandment, "the first com- 
mand with promise." It is the first among the 
relative precepts, which define men's duties 
to one another ; and it has a specific promise 
of temporal blessing. This does not mean, 
that obedient children are not visited with 
trouble or grief. The application is general, 
and as a rule, obedient children are more 
prosperous, and certainly they are happier 
than others. The truth of this is well attest- 
ed by many witnesses. 



THE FAMILY. 



97 



Says Dr. Plumer : "During a life-time nei- 
ther short nor uneventful, I have mingled 
much with mankind. In that time I have 
seen many children forego their own gratifi- 
cation and apparent interest for the sake of 
parents not always amiable, sometimes in- 
temperate. Yet I have in no case seen such 
children losers in the end. A blessing has 
followed them." 

When George Washington was fourteen 
years old, he had set his heart on the navy, 
and had obtained a midshipman's commission. 
His mother long hesitated to give her assent, 
and only at last reluctantly acquiesced. The 
day of departure came. The vessel was in 
the stream. It is said his luggage was on 
board. Then the mother's heart faltered. 
He was her eldest son, whose strong* and 
steadfast character promised^to be a support 
to herself and a . protection to her other chil- 
dren. He saw her distress, and with that 
noble unselfishness which he ever exhibited, 
said, "I will not break my mother's heart 
to please myself." He therefore returned to 
school, and continued his studies two years 
longer. Had he disregarded his mother's 

The Peifect Law. 7 



98 



THE PEEFECT LAW. 



wishes and gone into the navy, he might have 
risen, and become even a British admiral; 
but he never would have been the " Father 
of his country," with a name that shall be 
venerated to the end of time. Deliverance 
would have come, but he would not have 
reaped the glory thereof. In this connection 
a statement of his last biographer is worthy 
of insertion : " George being her eldest son, 
was thought to be her favorite, yet she never 
gave him undue preference ; and the implicit 
deference exacted from him in childhood, 
continued to be habitually observed by him 
to the day of her death." 

There are terrific denunciations in the Bible 
against those who do not thus honor their 
parents. According to Moses' law, "he that 
curseth his father or his mother shall surely 
be put to death." And there is a curse 
pronounced upon filial disobedience, which 
causes a chill of horror to creep over us as 
it is read : " The eye that mocketh at his 
father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the 
ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the 
young eagles shall eat it." Proverbs 30 : 17. 
Heaven's wrath descends on perverse children. 



THE FAMILY. 



99 



Obedience and respect learned at home, 
wiH be observed in the various relations 
which we hold to others, as superiors, inferiors, 
and equals. "Honor all men" is a divine 
injunction. There is a measure of regard 
due to each individual, just because he is 
man. Frederic II. of Prussia made it a rule 
to return every mark of respect shown to 
him in the street by those who passed him, 
giving as a reason — "Are they not all human 
beings as well as myself?" 

This commandment requires obedience to 
law. "We must be subject to the powers that 
be, for conscience' sake. We must render 
unto all their dues — " tribute to whom tri- 
bute, custom to whom custom, fear to whom 
fear, honor to whom honor." 

To our superiors we should show due re- 
spect, seeking their counsels and instructions ; 
imitating them in that which is good ; judg- 
ing and speaking of them favorably. " Three 
manner of fathers we should reverence. The 
first is the Father who createth from noth- 
ing ; the second is our father by nature ; the 
third is the father by age, and especially by 
virtues. For many old men and women there 



100 THE PERFECT LAW. 



are who are full of vices; and so they are 
but children in understanding, although they 
are of great bodily age."* "Thou shalt rise 
up before the hoary head, and honor the 
face of the old man." 

To our inferiors, we should be patient, for- 
bearing, kind, taking every opportunity to 
benefit, encourage, and assist them in every 
good work. " Mind not high things, but con- 
descend to men of low estate." 

Equals should cultivate and strengthen mu- 
tual love and peace, "in honor preferring one 
~ another." They should be courteous and 
affable, and act unselfishly. They should 
rejoice in* each other's welfare ; warn one 
another faithfully ; bestow tender sympathy 
under trouble ; and provoke each other to 
good works. " Let love be without dissimu- 
lation. Be of the same mind one toward 
another. Be not wise in your own conceits. 
If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, 
live peaceably with all men. Be not over- 
come of evil, but overcome evil with good." 
See Romans 12 : 9-21. 



* Wicldiff. 



MAN'S LIFE. 



101 



VI. 

MAN'S LIFE. 

^HOU SHALT NOT KILL. 

After family duties, come those we owe 
society. These God now proceeds to define. 
And since what is most important to man is 
life, the first commandment which relates to 
duties outside the household, forbids the tak- 
ing of life. 

Does this signify that under no circum- 
stances we may shed blood ? This brief law, 
given in four words, is expounded elsewhere 
in Scripture. We have a right to kill animals 
for food. God said to Noah, and through 
him to all his descendants, " Every moving 
thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even 
as the green herb have I given you all 
things." Every noxious insect and beast of 
prey may be slain. And yet we must not 
kill these wantonly, nor inflict torture while 
taking life. This is offensive to their Maker 
and ours, and indicates wanton cruelty. 



102 THE PERFECT LAW 



Benedict Arnold, when a lad, took pleas- 
ure in tormenting calves, colts, and lambs, 
and thus hardened his heart for future crime. 
Under this precept cruelty to animals is for- 
bidden. " A righteous man regardeth the life 
of his beast." 

But may the life of man ever be taken? 
Here also the Word of God is very explicit. 
Human life may be taken in self-defence. 
"If a thief be found breaking up, and he be 
smitten that he die, there shall no blood be 
shed for him." Exocl. 22:2. Express pro- 
vision was made for the protection of one who 
had committed justifiable homicide : see the 
thirty-fifth chapter of Numbers. But in de- 
fending ourselves against an attack we must 
not resort to violence until it becomes neces- 
sary for self-defence. It would be unjustifi- 
able to shoot a drunken man, who assailed 
us only with his fist. We may take the life 
of another, when the assault is of such a 
character, that either his life or our own 
must be forfeited. 

The life of man may also be taken as a 
punishment for Hie crime of murder. On this 
point the Scriptures are very clear and deci- 



MAN'S LIFE. 



103 



cled. " Surely your blood of your lives will 
I require, at the hand of every beast will I 
require it, and at the hand of man : at the 
hand of every man's brother will I require 
the life of man." Thus every man's brother 
was constituted an officer of justice to search 
out the murderer and bring him to punish- 
ment. "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by 
man shall his blood be shed ; for in the im- 
age of God made he man." 

Nearly a thousand years after this law was 
given to Noah, it was repeated to Israel in lan- 
guage equally plain and forcible. " Ye shall 
take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, 
which is guilty of death, but he shall be 
surely put to death." Numbers 35 : 3, 33. In 
the context a land is said to be defiled when 
murderers go unpunished. "Ye shall not 
pollute the land wherein ye are ; for blood it 
defileth the land ; and the land cannot be 
cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by 
the blood of Mm that shed it." And to show 
that no refuge, not even the most sacred, was 
to shield the murderer, God declared, "thou 
shalt take him from mine altar that he may 
die." Exod. 21 : 14. In the thirty-fifth chap- 



104 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



ter of Numbers, the law of murder is min- 
utely stated, so that there could be no equivo- 
cation or doubt under which the guilty might 
escape. 

The common sentiment and legislation of 
mankind accord with the justice of this law. 
History does not record the case of a nation 
which by law permitted a murderer to go 
free. There are few in Christian lands who 
advocate the abolition of capital punishment; 
and these do not pretend to justify their 
opinion from the Word of God. Indeed 
many of these reformers have little regard for 
that authority. Their arguments are based 
on a misconceived humanity. They plead 
for sympathy in behalf of the poor murderer. 
But are we to turn away from the man who 
was hurried brutally out of the world ; and 
not regard his wife and children so cruelly 
bereaved? Shall we have no solicitude for 
human life so important to each one of us? 
Another plea urged with importunity is, that 
society has no right to take what it cannot 
give — a man's life. Although society cannot 
restore life, it is solemnly bound to protect 
life, by the most fearful of all penalties. 



MAN'S LIFE. 



105 



It is further claimed, that imprisonment 
for life is a severer punishment than hanging. 
Every mind is conscious that this assertion 
is untrue. Satan understood human nature 
far better, when he said, "All that a man 
hath will he give for his life." Does not 
a murderer hail with delight that reprieve 
which commutes his punishment to a life- 
long incarceration ? 

That philanthropy is sadly astray, which 
exhausts its pity upon the murderer; and dis- 
regards the crying blood of the victim, and 
the agonized family, and endangered society. 

Such feeling has degenerated into sympa- 
, thy for crime. The murderer deserves death. 
He cannot complain when the same injury is 
meted out to him, which he inflicted upon 
another. "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by 
man shall his blood be shed." Divine jus- 
tice, inflexible but righteous, made that law; 
and conscience, when free to speak, declares 
that human life must atone for human life 
wilfully sacrificed. 

Where there has been a departure from 
this principle, lives have paid the penalty. 
Sweden tried it, and murders increased on 



106 THE PEEFECT LAW. 



every side. The state of Michigan abolished 
capital punishment, and the grand jury at 
Detroit in 1852, said, " The increase of the 
crimes of murder and manslaughter, since 
the abolition of capital punishment, not only 
among us, but throughout our state, has 
become most manifest and alarming. The 
records of the courts of this county show 
that at each of the four terms, j^here has 
been at least one aggravated case of murder, 
and at one term two cases. Whereas pre- 
viously to the existing law no conviction of 
murder had ever been had in any of the 
courts of our state. These facts we regard 
as a proof of an alarming disrespect for, and 
undervaluing of human life, legitimately refer- 
able to a change of the legislation upon this 
subject." 

God himself has shown us the consequen- 
ces of sparing the life of murderers. During 
the first sixteen and a half centuries of the 
world's history, it would seem that capital 
punishment was not inflicted. A great exper- 
iment was begun in the case of Cain. God 
guarded his life. He became a "fugitive and 
a vagabond in the earth." Remorse preyed 



MAN'S LIFE. 



107 



upon Lis heart. God made laim a living warn- 
ing of the torment endured by a murderer. 
Yet this did not deter others from the same 
crime. And men went on from bad to worse, 
until the Lord said, "The end of all flesh is 
come before me : for the earth is filled with 
violence through them, and behold I will 
destroy them from the earth." Such was 
the state of things when murderers lived. 
Hence no sooner does Noah come out of the 
ark than God enacted that murder should 
be punished by death. Surely no people 
need wish to repeat the experiment after such 
a trial. 

Lawlessness of all kinds is a violation of 
this commandment. "Whosoever undertakes 
to be the avenger of his own wrongs, wheth- 
er it be upon the ruthless villain who has 
wrought shame and ruin in his family, or 
upon a lesser criminal, snatches the sword of 
justice from the hands of the magistrate, and 
strikes a blow at this statute of the deca- 
logue. The law of the state should avenge 
our injuries ; and where the statute book fails 
to provide merited punishment, there should 
be more stringent legislation. Until this is 



108 THE PERFECT LAW. 

secured, it is better to suffer in patience than 
to become law-breakers, and be haunted by 
remorse for the remainder of life. 

The practice, far too prevalent, of carrying 
deadly weapons, leads to private revenge. 
Many an encounter would end only in blows, 
which now coraes to the shedding of blood, 
because the parties are armed. This is an 
increasing evil of the day, and begins to as- 
sume an alarming character. Public senti- 
ment and law should be employed to repress 
these deeds of violence ; but instead of this, 
they are too often passed over with a degree 
of toleration which emboldens desperate men, 
and is making our youth reckless of human 
life. One fruitful source of all this, has 
doubtless been the open avowal in too many 
quarters, that no crime ought to be punished 
by death. 

There are other modes, well worthy of con- 
sideration, by which the intent of this com- 
mandment may be defeated ; for it is a rule 
in applying these precepts, that " where a sin 
is forbidden, the contrary duty is enjoined. 7 ' 
"The sins forbidden cannot be avoided unless 
the contrary duties be performed." "Thou 



MAN'S LIFE. 



109 



shalt not kill" imposes the obligation to 
"use all lawful endeavors to preserve our 
own life and the life of others." Hence 
vdiatever has a tendency to shorten life, de- 
stroy health, and generate disease is to be 
avoided. This forbids those habits, indul- 
gences, and hurtful practices, to which many 
are addicted. * 

Intemperance is one of these, by which is 
meant the use of intoxicating liquors as a 
beverage. Alcohol is a terrible murderer. 
It slays some sixty thousand people in this 
country each year. It annually wastes some 
four hundred millions of dollars. It replen- 
ishes almshouses and prisons; and sends a 
tide of sorrow through the land which en- 
ters alike the palace and the hut. 

Can any excuse be offered for the habitual 
use of intoxicating drinks? Absolutely none, 
except a depraved appetite. For the bounti- 
ful Creator has liberally provided materials 
for allaying thirst, which are both palatable 
and healthful. The desire for stimulus should 
be resisted and dislodged in the beginning. 
Even one indulgence is often fatal. 

"A glass of ale, sir, was my ruin," said a 



110 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



man in the ward of a prison. " I was at one 
period of my life very intemperate, but was 
happily led to give up drinking entirely, 
although I did not sign any pledge, which I 
now lament. I became a regular attendant 
at a place of worsjiip. I went on happily for 
some years, until one evening I met some 
friends whom I had not seen in a long time. 
They prevailed on me to go to a public house 
to have but one glass; conscience reproved 
me, but having entered on enchanted ground, 
I was readily induced to take more liquor. 
My old appetite w r as rekindled, I became 
reckless, committed crime, and here I am." 

There seems to be one safeguard, total ab- 
stinence. "Touch not, taste not." Is it not 
the duty of all to lend their influence and 
example to the cause of total abstinence? 
Intemperance is a sore evil in the land ; and 
ought we not to cooperate with those who 
labor to arrest its progress? Can we exer- 
cise self-denial in a nobler cause ? We may 
be safe, but many are not? Will intemper- 
ance decrease among the lower classes, so 
long as the drinking usages of the rich pre- 
vail? The poor man will cling to his whis- 



MAX'S LIFE. 



Ill 



key, until the better classes give up their 
wine. Cannot we refrain from self-indul- 
gence, when such vast interests, temporal 
and spiritual, are at stake? Paul avowed 
his purpose, in a matter of similar relation to 
others, although of less consequence, "If 
meat make my brother to offend, I will eat 
no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make 
my brother to offend." 

Dr. Guthrie, speaking of labors among the 
intemperate in Edinburgh, says: ""When 
laboring, which I did for seven years, among 
these classes, I saw so clearly that drink 
stood in the way of doing them good, that to 
induce them to abandon it, I myself became 
a total abstainer. And almost all, whether 
men or women, who have devoted themselves 
to the improvement of such districts, have 
found it indispensable to pursue the same 
course. We do not believe in total absti- 
nence as a substitute for the gospel; but we" 
do believe that drinking habits, like the stone 
at the grave of Lazarus, stand an all but in- 
superable barrier between the living and the 
dead, and must be removed before we can 
entertain the hope that their victims will 



112 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



hear or obey the voice which addresses them, 
'Come forth. 55 ' 

Many a youth has been ensnared by intem- 
perance, through the example of those whom 
he respected. There was a young man, a 
clerk in a store, whose mother had faithfully 
warned him against the terrible evils of in- 
temperance. He had always refused to drink 
wine or any kind of intoxicating liquors, and 
had stood firm against the entreaties and 
ridicule of his companions. He felt that he 
was safe so long as he did not touch it. At 
last he grew tired of opposing these constant 
invitations of his friends. While in this state 
of mind he was invited to a large party. He 
knew that his friends would urge him to 
drink, and he resolved to be governed by the 

example of Deacon A , a prominent and 

godly man of the church he attended. He 
reasoned that if he drank, it could not be 
wrong, and it would be safe for hiinseif. At 
the refreshment table the young man kept 

his eye on Deacon A . Presently he 

saw him pour out a glass of wine and drink 
it off as though it were perfectly harmless. 
Then one of the young man's friends invited 



MAN'S LIFE. 



113 



him to drink. He did so, and another and 
another glass. And he went home from that 
party a drunken man. He kept on drinking ; 
and lost his situation, ruined his character, 
broke his mother's heart, and was laid in 
a drunkard's grave. Thousands have been 
enticed and destroyed in the same manner. 
" Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor 
drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and 
makest him drunken." Hab. 2 : 15. 

The use of tobacco is another of those hab- 
its, which undermine health and shorten life. 
The opinion is widely prevalent that its use 
is a cause of moral and physical evil; and 
that it would be a blessing to the church, to 
the nation, and especially to .the young, if 
the use of it were abandoned. Tobacco is a 
costly indulgence. If the church of Christ 
received merely what is wasted on tobacco, 
she would ask no more, in order carry on 
most successfully all her missionary and phil- 
anthropic operations. 

Doctor Richardson of London has made 
careful examinations of the effect of this 
weed upon the human system. He states 
that no confirmed smoker can be said to be 

The Perfect Law. 8 



THE PEHFECT LAW. 



well. For smoking produces disturbances 
"in the blood; on the stomach; on the heart, 
causing debility of that organ and irregular 
action ; on the organs of sense, in the eye, 
and the ear ; on the brain ; on the nervous 
system ; on the mucous membrane of the 
mouth, and on the throat ; on the bronchial 
surface of the lungs -when that is already 
irritable, sustaining their irritation and in- 
creasing the cough." He concludes that 
the habit of smoking in youth is most dele- 
terious, producing a diminution of growth, 
deficient development, and premature age. 
Three young men formed a smoking club, 
and within a few years they were all in their 
graves. The physician was asked of what 
they died, he replied, "They were smoked to 
death." 

Gluttony comes under the ban of this inter- 
dict. Overeating and improper food are the 
origin of various diseases. Sudden deaths, 
especially in summer, often occur from an 
imprudent indulgence of the appetite. It 
w r ere wise for us all to inform ourselves what 
regimen is most conducive to health ; since by 
a disregard of this, many are laying a foun- 



MAN'S LIFE. 



115 



elation for future sickness and infirmity, and 
not a few dig their graves with their teeth. 

In like manner we might consider many 
hurtful practices, which generate disease, and 
render man's few and evil days, still ^ fewer 
and more evil. 

Human laws are satified when we abstain 
from the performance of evil ; but the Divine 
law, being addressed to our moral nature, 
requires the proper regulation of the heart, 
as requisite to its righteous observation. In 
the prohibition of murder God comprises 
wrath, hatred, revenge, and all malevolent 
feelings which may be cherished in the soul 
of man. Our Saviour, who is to be the final 
judge, puts this interpretation on the statute 
before us : " Te have heard that it was said 
by them of old time, thou shalt not kill ; and 
wdiosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the 
judgment ; but I say unto you, that whoso- 
ever is angry with his brother without a 

, cause, shall be in danger of the judgment." 

IThat is, Ye have been taught that the sixth 
commandment is broken only by the mur- 

. derer; but I say that you break it whenever 
you are angry without a cause. Precisely 



116 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



this is repeated by tile apostle John, " Who- 
soever hateth his brother is a murderer." 
Nor i§ this an extreme application ; for it 
is within us that crime has its origin, and 
gains its strength and matures its purposes. 
So that hatred, revenge, wrath, and the like 
are the foster mothers of murder. For these 
may so sway the mind as to lead one to in- 
jure the object of his dislike, or it may result 
in taking life. Viewed in this light, we per- 
ceive that these malevolent feelings of our 
sinful nature are a serious violation of this 
commandment, and not harmless gusts of 
passion sweeping over the heart. 

" Anger and hatred are not supposed to be 
such execrable crimes when they are men- 
tioned under their own proper appellation ; 
but when they are forbidden to us under the 
name of murder, we have a clearer percep- 
tion how abominable they are in the sight of 
God, in wliQse word they are classed under 
such a flagitious and horrible species of 
crime; and being influenced by his judgment, 
we accustom ourselves more seriously to 
consider the atrociousness of those offences, 
which we previously accounted trivial."* 

* Calvin on the Psalms. 



MAN'S LIFE. 



117 



" A meek and quiet spirit is in the sight of 
• God of great price. 55 This is the opposite 
of a quarrelsome and revengeful temper. It 
avenges not its own, but gives place unto 
wrath. Like the Meek One, " when reviled, 
it reviles not again. When it suffers it 
threatens not, but commits itself to him who 
judgeth righteous!}'." 

We may learn how to apply the command- 
ments by noting the manner in which our 
Saviour expounds them in the fifth chapter 
of Matthew. In speaking of the sixth com- 
mandment, he first shows that it is not to be 
restricted to the criminal act of murder, but 
includes causeless anger and malicious feel- 
ings ; and then in the next verse he declares 
that well doing and kind feelings are demand- 
ed : " Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the 
altar, and there rememberest that thy brother 
hath aught against thee, leave there thy gift 
g before the altar, and go thy way: first be recon- 
ciled to thy brother, and then come and offer 
thy gift." So that, according to our Lord's 
exposition, this precept forbids all wrathful 
feelings, and enjoins the exercise of forgive- 
ness. "Love your enemies, bless them that 



118 THE PERFECT LAW. 

curse you, do good to them that hate you, 
and pray for them which despitefully use you 
and persecute you. 5 ' Matt. 5 :44. In his own 
life and death our Saviour has set us the 
example of this virtue. On the cross he for- 
gave his enemies and prayed for them. In- 
deed he makes the exercise of forgiveness a 
condition of our pardon: "for if ye from the 
heart forgive not men their trespasses, neither 
will your Father which is in heaven forgive 
your trespasses." No one can read the New 
Testament without being impressed with 
these teachings of forgiveness. "A dishon- 
est Christian, a debauched Christian, a drunk- 
en Christian, a lying Christian is not a greater 
absurdity, than a contentious, unforgiving 
Christian. Men of contention cannot be men 
of prayer."* 

There is a positive character in forgiveness, 
not to be overlooked. We must overcome 
evil with good; that thus the offender may » 
be constrained to dismiss all enmity from his 
mind. Said one who was much opposed and 
as he thought persecuted : "Sometimes when 
I receive a fresh insult, it makes my blood 

* Spring. 



MAX'S LIFE. 



119 



rise for a moment ; then it is over and I seek 
if possible to do some good secretly to the 
person offending. It takes away the grief of 
a wound amazingly." 

A person who had done Sir Matthew Hale 
a great injury, eame afterwards to him for 
advice in the settlement of his estate. Sir 
Matthew gave advice very frankly to him, 
but would accept no fee for it When he 
was asked how he could use a man so kindly 
who had wronged him so much, his answer 
was, I thank God, I have learned to forgive 
injuries. 

"What great matter," said a heathen per- 
secutor to a Christian, while he was beating 
him to death, "what great matter did Christ 
ever do you?" "Even this," said the Chris- 
tian, "'that I can forgive you, though you use 
me so cruelly.' 5 



120 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



VII. 

MAN'S PURITY. 

^HOU SHALT NOT J^OMMIT ^DUTLERY, 

God knew that just such a law as this was 
necessary for man in all time, hence he gave ■ 
it a place in the decalogue. And each year 
too sadly proves that we of this generation 
are not so wise, so pure, or so freed from 
unchaste desires, as not to need the salutary 
lessons of this statute. 

According to the principle of application 
hitherto observed, marriage becomes a legit- 
imate topic of- discussion under this com- 
mandment. 

Marriage is a religions ordinance, as well as 
a civil contract. Human legislation has so 
much to do with the many questions arising 
out of the married state, that it is too often 
regarded as only a civil compact. This is 
not the aspect in which it is presented to us 
in the word of God. Danger also lurks in 
the idea, that marriage consists only in the 



MAN'S PUEITY. 



121 



consent of parties. Of course marriage is a 
cruel mockery and a sad sham without a 
union of hearts; but if we claim no higher 
sanction and no stronger obligation than 
mutual agreement, we weaken the bands of 
matrimony ; for what consent ratifies, consent 
may annul, and this is actually the position 
assumed by those calling themselves reform- 
ers, but who really are destroyers. They 
endeavor to indoctrinate the public mind 
with the antiscriptural and pestilential notion, 
that when the union becomes irksome to the 
parties, it may cease by mutual consent and 
voluntary separation. The frequent applica- 
tions for divorce, which have attained the 
magnitude of an evil not to be overlooked, 
arise in no small measure from the opinion 
that marriage is simply a civil contract, to 
be wholly arranged by man's laws. TJiis 
belief is not merely subversive of morality 
and the welfare of society, it is directly an- 
tagonistic to the teaching of the Scriptures. 

Marriage is a solemn vow made before 
God between one man and one woman. And 
so long as the terms of that vow are observ- 
ed, there can be no separation until death 



122 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



produces it. The New Testament authorizes 
divorce only on the ground of infidelity, 
Matt. .5:31, 32; and when human statutes 
admit causes of divorce outside of this limi- 
tation, they assume a power which the Divine 
Lawgiver has not sanctioned. 

In Eden the first marriage was performed, 
when God himself selected the parties to be 
united. He blessed them. And it is not too 
much to suppose that the same God is pres- 
ent at and blesses the parties, in every mar- 
riage consummated according to the princi- 
ples of love and religion. The first social 
gathering which our Lord attended after he 
entered upon his ministry was a wedding. 
And he decided against the easy divorcing 
of that day, with words which throw a flood 
of light upon the religious nature of mar- 
riage : " Have ye not read that he which 
made them at the beginning made them male 
and female, and said, For this cause shall a 
man leave father and mother and shall cleave 
to his wife : and they twain shall be one 
flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, 
but one flesh. What therefore God hath 
joined together let not man put asunder." 



MAN'S PURITY. 



123 



Matt. 19:4-6. Paul, in the fifth chapter of 
Ephesians, compares the union of husband 
and wife to that mysterious and sacred rela- 
tion which exists between Christ and his 
church. And the inference is, that as only 
apostacy cuts off the church from her Sa- 
viour, so only adultery can divorce husband 
and wife. Solomon describes an adulterous 
woman as one "who forsaketh the guide of 
her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her 
God." 

Marriage is essential to the well being of 
mankind. However freely gossip may tattle 
about ill-assorted unions, the fact remains 
impregnable, that the married state is a ben- 
efit and even a necessity. It is Heaven's kind 
safeguard. It is a merciful provision for the 
rising generation ; for without its protection, 
little children would be more neglected than 
the brood of the ostrich. Hence Satan has 
employed every agency to subvert marriage ; 
appealing now to piety, and now to lust. 
Since the time that Christianity, spreading 
among the nations, began to regenerate mar- 
ried life and restore matrimony to somewhat 
of its original character and dignity, he has 



124 



THE PEKFECT LAW. 



had his emissaries abroad in the earth to 
weaken the bonds of wedlock, and to create 
distrust of the married state. Early in the 
Christian era there was a sect which taught 
that "marriage was the work of the devil;" 
and there are advocates of this creed in these 
days. Socialism, which breaks up the fam- 
ily, and converts society into cattle-pens ; and 
free love, which severs the marriage tie, and 
revels in the wildest licentiousness, are but a 
continuation of the old warfare against the 
purity and honor of wedlock. 

And just here the Romish church becomes 
an ally of Satan, in "forbidding to marry," 
as Paul long ago foretold she would. Dis- 
paraging marriage, she puts a premium on 
unweclded life, as being a more holy state 
and especially acceptable to God. In her 
nunneries all over Christendom she incarce- 
rates misguided women, who under the con- 
trol of superstitious fears, and hopes have 
been induced to make the vow of celibacy. 
And while there may be much to move the 
heart and impress the mind in the ceremony 
of taking the veil— which is truly a veil, cov- 
ering wretchedness and vice—the scene may 



MAN'S PURITY. 



125 



be compared to a view of a sepulchre, whose 
architectural beauty and finish delight the 
eye, but within is the corruption of death. 

"Whatever may seem adverse to the felicity 
of the married state is more apparent than 
real. More misery is found in single life 
than in wedlock. The statistics of life in- 
surance show that the married as a class 
attain a greater age than the unmarried. 
Witherspoon says that " the number of un- 
happy marriages is greatly overestimated ; 
and that we do but deceive ourselves, when 
we suppose others unhappy because we should 
be so if placed in their circumstances." John 
Newton, whos.e close study of the human 
heart renders his opinion very trustworthy, 
declares, " Long experience and much obser- 
vation have convinced me that the marriage 
state, when properly formed and prudently 
conducted, affords the nearest approach to 
happiness (of a merely temporal kind) that can 
be attained in this uncertain world, and which 
will best abide the test of sober reflection," 

But while all these things are advanced in 
advocacy of marriage, it must be understood 
with equal clearness, that a dread of celibacy 



126 



THE PEEFECT LAW 



should not lead to the perilous and absurd 
rashness of a hasty union. For the great aim 
of life is not to secure a husband. "Women of 
eminent piety and usefulness have died un- 
married. A whiin, revenge, disappointment, 
or stubbornness have sometimes induced 
thoughtless girls to precipitate a marriage 
which has led to lifelong unhappiness. This 
and much more which might be said, show 
that prudence and conscientious care should 
be exercised, and wise counsel gratefully re- 
ceived. Deception in contracting such alli- 
ances is wicked, and must result in crimina- 
tion, alienation, and misery. And the wishes 
of parents should have great weight. It is 
the height of presumption and ingratitude 
for one just assuming the responsibilities of 
life to reject the advice of those older and 
wiser. Rarely should a marriage be con- 
tracted against the consent of parents. Such 
opposition may be unjust, but only the most 
conclusive reasons should decide a daughter 
or a son to disregard that opposition. 

Foremost among the relative duties of hus- 
band and wife is love. This is the beginning 
and must continue the abiding principle. 



MAX'S PURITY. 127 

Love is the fulfilling of the law of God, and 
also of the law of marriage. For this no 
equivalent can be rendered. Hence to the 
exercise of this there are frequent exhorta- 
tions in the Scriptures. "Husbands love 
your wives and be not bitter against them." 
" Men ought to love their wives as their own 
bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth him- 
self." " Husbands, love your wives, even as 
Christ also loved the church and gave him- 
self for it." And Paul enjoins, " Teach the 
young women to love, their husbands." 

Promotion of mutual happiness is another 
principal duty. Paul writes " he that is mar- 
ried careth for the things of the world, how 
he may please his wife." And this is proper, 
when it is not carried to sinful extremes. To 
please the wife is the husband's part to per- 
form in securing mutual happiness. On the 
other hand the wife owes love and obedience 
to her husband. Thus she is to add her 
share in mutual happiness. On these the 
' Bible insists. " Wives submit yourselves unto 
your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For 
the husband is the head of the wife, even as 
Christ is the head of the church." There is 



128 



THE PERFECT LAW 



that priority, which arises from the nature of 
the work assigned to each. Woman's sphere 
is the family, man's is the world. Woman 
must order her household, while the husband 
should provide the necessary means. If he 
is king, she is queen. There is therefore a 
joint rule, to be conducted on the part of 
the husband so as in all .things possible and 
proper to please the wife, and on the part of 
the wife in all things possible and proper to 
submit to the preferences of the husband. 
This produces that sweet accord and harmo- 
nious action which constitute domestic bliss. 
Husband and wife should honor each other, 
and tenderly sympathize in each other's per- 
plexities and cares. 

This commandment requires chastity in 
heart, speech, and behaviour. The Bible for- 
bids uncleanness, indelicate jesting, lasciv- 
ious acts and intimations. We are to "put 
off works of darkness, and to walk decently, 
not in rioting and drunkenness, not in cham- 
bering and wantonness." The singing of 
impure songs is forbidden ; the examination 
of indecent books or pictures; wanton em- 
braces or dalliances ; indeed every thing that 



MAN'S PURITY. 



129 



is calculated to produce impurity of thought. 
Unchaste images which arise from the cor- 
ruption of our hearts, and sensual fancies 
which sail slowly across the clear heaven of 
our thoughts, are dangerous as well as sinful. 
If welcomed and indulged they may, like a 
hidden spark, break forth into a vehement 
flame. Th#f may only require the tempt- 
ing occasion, to become criminal deeds. We 
should pray God for a clean heart. 

Compliance with the extremes of fashion 
often leads to a style of dress which is not 
only unseemly, but positively immodest. 
"Even in putting on our garments, as well 
in eating and drinking, all must be done with 
a serious regard to the preservation of our 
own and others' purity in heart and action; 
that our garb may testify whose servants we 
are, and remind us what our conduct ought to 
be."* There are certain kinds of dances fash- 
ionable now, which come under the condem- 
nation of this commandment. In waltzes, 
polkas, and the like, the positions assumed 
are such, as must shock the purity of maid- 
enly instincts. Fashion and pleasure have 
* Scott. 

The Perfect Law. 9 



130 THE PEKFECT LAW. 



blunted the sensibilities of modest minds, 
else these indelicate dances would not be tol- 
erated. 

This precept requires a careful avoiding of 
lewd company. It is perilous, especially for 
the young, to put themselves in the way of 
such temptation. When enticed, remember 
Joseph and be virtuous. Above all, shun her 
house which is the way to hell, going down 
to the chambers of death. Many strong 
men have been slain by her. "Whoredom 
and wine and new wine take away the heart." 
Hosea 4:11. All the stratagems of Samson's 
enemies were foiled, until he laid his head in 
Delilah's lap, When his heart was captivated 
by her wiles, his strength was taken away, 
and he became " as another man." Before 
the scissors had cut his locks, his glory had 
departed. How striking the contrast be- 
tween Samson and Joseph. The one yielded 
and was dragged to a miserable end. The 
latter resisted a similar temptation, and ad- 
vanced in a brilliant career, and died crowned 
with honor. Let every young man consider 
well the history of these examples of self- 
indulgence and self-restraint. 



MAN'S PURITY. 



131 



It is true now as when Solomon wrote, 
"none that go unto her return again, nei- 
ther take they hold of the paths of life." 
"Remove thy way far from her, and come^ 
not nisjh the door of her house : lest thou 
give thine honor unto others, and thy years 
unto the cruel : lest strangers be filled with 
thy wealth ; and thy labors be in the house 
of a stranger ; and thou mourn at the last 
when thy flesh and thy body are consumed." 
Prov. 5 : 8-11. The guilt and danger of this 
sin are clearly portrayed in the Scriptures. 
Solomon particularly conveys a salutary warn- 
ing to his son on this subject, in language 
unequalled for its plainness, force and deli- 
cacy. And when these lines are read by a 
young man, let him open his Bible, and 
carefully peruse the fifth, sixth, and seventh 
chapters of Proverbs. 

This sin, wheresoever and with whomso- 
ever committed, is surcharged with woe and 
damnation. Nothing conduces more to cor- 

upt the morals and deprave the mind of 

outh, than the gratification of impure de- 
sires ; nothing tends more to spread a gen- 
eral corruption of manners ; nothing more 



132 



THE PEEFECT LAW. 



harms the nearest and clearest interests of 
men ; nothing introduces more distressing 
consequences. It is so utterly opposed to 
the whole spirit of Christianity, that whoso- 
ever lives in the violation of this command- 
ment, must of necessity give up all hope of 
happiness hereafter. 

"What shall we call men, who, unrestrained 
by principle, uncontrolled by law human or 
divine, make no scruple of breaking through 
the most sacred ties, and the most solemn 
obligations; hesitate* not to wound with the 
keenest anguish, and to injure in the* most 
irreparable manner ? The world styles them 
men of pleasure ; but they are slaves of sin, 
servants of the devil, enemies to God and 
man; gathering for themselves maledictions 
here, and the damnation of hell hereafter. 

Think then of the curse which the ruin of 
innocence brings upon your own soul; of the 
scandalous breaches of promise, the repeated 
perjuries, and all the base and abominable 
arts which seduction employs. 

Banish such a purpose from your soul by 
reflecting what cruel injuries you will bring 
on the helpless object of your wiles, whom 



MAN'S PURITY. 



133 



you would deprive of virtue and reputation ; 
and introduce into a life laden with the most 
ruinous evils. Tou are preparing tortures and 
punishments greater than the most brutal 
persecution could devise. And all for her 
whose greatest misfortune is, to have a heart 
tenderly devoted to you, a heart whose affec- 
tion you turn to its own destruction. How 
can you thus overwhelm with anguish one 
who so trusts you ? 

The frequency of divorce is a growing evil 
in our land, which fills every Christian heart 
with sadness. At one term of the Supreme 
Court of Massachusetts recently held, there 
were two hundred and fifty applicants for 
divorce. The law of marriage seems to be 
growing less sacred and inviolable in this 
country. The widespread doctrines of infi- 
del reformers begin to bear this pestiferous 
fruit. Indeed these ideas have reached legis- 
lative halls, and marred our statute-books. 
The laws of several states are such as almost 
to invite divorce, whereas great obstacles 
'should be interposed. Whatever facilitates 
divorce is a curse. Time cures many griev- 
ances. A husband and wife became alien- 



184 



THE PERFECT LA\V, 



atecl soon after marriage. The circumstances 
were such, that in some states a divorce 
would readily have been secured. But in 
the state where these persons resided, several 
years must elapse before the court would 
grant a release from the marriage bond. Ere 
that time passed away, a reconciliation was 
effected, and that couple are now living to- 
gether in love and harmony. Hundreds of 
divorces would never be attempted, were 
legislation more stringent as to the annulling 
of marriage. It is well known that in those 
states where divorces are easilv obtained, 
they are found to be most numerous. 

"Even where Providence or an indiscreet 
choice in marriage hath allotted a Christian 
a trial, instead of a pleasant and useful com- 
panion ; he will from his heart prefer this 
affliction, to such relief as tends ultimately 
to licentiousness, confusion, and misery; and 
divine grace will sanctify it, support him 
under it, and teach him so to behave as will 
gradually render it more tolerable. But 
every method should be used to cement the 
affections of married persons, and to exclude 
temptations to inconstancy." Scott. 



MAN'S PROPERTY. 



135 



VIII. 

MAN'S PROPERTY. 

J^HOU SHALT NOT STEAL. 

One of the earliest manifestations of man's 
depravity was in deeds of violence, commit- 
ted against the person and property of his 
fellow-man. Cain hated and finally slew his 
brother. It is said of the world before the 
flood, "The earth is filled with violence." So 
it has been ever since. Left to themselves 
men would plunder and destroy one another. 
Hence God, and society in the name of God, 
stretch out an arm to protect man and his 
rights. This second table of the law con- 
tains those prohibitions which, like a shield, 
are put between the violent doer and his vic- 
tim. "Thou shalt not kill" — protects man's 
person. "Thou shalt not commit adultery" — 
protects his family. " Thou shalt not steal " — 
protects his property. "Thou shalt not bear 
false witness " — protects his character. 



136 THE PERFECT LAW. 

The right to hold and enjoy one's acquisi- 
tions lies- at the foundation of civilized soci- 
ety. Without this security the sinews of 
industry are paralyzed. And the more com- 
plete the protection of property, the more 
prosperous does a community become. If a 
man have no assurance that he can retain 
what he accumulates, there is no inducement 
for him to gather more than he requires for 
present use. 

In the original grant of the earth to man, 
God told him to "subdue it." His work is to 
develop the treasures of the material globe, 
which is accomplished by obtaining posses- 
sion of its mines ; bridging its ocean with 
ships; tunnelling its hills and filling its val- 
leys to form a highway for the swift courser 
which steam impels ; cultivating its soil, and 
by perfecting its fruits and animals, thus ren- 
dering them more nutritious and usefuL In 
these and other modes the earth is made to 
conduce to the comfort of its inhabitants. 
But this cannot be effected without the guar- 
dianship of some such law T as we have in the 
eighth commandment. Remove the protec- 
tion to labor which it affords, and the surface 



MAX'S PROPERTY. 



137 



of the earth would be covered with primeval 
forests ; and man would be like the roving- 
savage, or the tented Arab. 

"Thou shalt not steal" comprises a great 
deal more than that we must not plunder a 
house, or pick a pocket, or turn highwayman, 
or defraud. It branches out into all that 
affects the wealth and outward estate of our- 
selves and others. Like the other command- 
ments it is comprehensive, and it is so by 
God's design. The latitude which is claimed 
for the moral law, is not of man's devising. 
These statutes are interpreted in the same 
manner as they were by the Lawgiver him- 
self. In the chapters following the giving 
of the law from Sinai, God proceeds to ex- 
pound the decalogue, attaching particulars, 
and showing how it touches and covers the 
various relations and duties of life. See Exo- 
dus chapters 21, 22, and 23. 

By this precept we are taught to do all we 
can to procure and advance the comfort and 
prosperity of others. 

The command inculcates benevolence, "The 
poor ye have always with you." By which 
is meant, there will always be some needing 



138 THE PERFECT LAW. 

aid. " The poor shall never cease out of the 
land ; therefore I command thee, saying, Thou 
shalt open thy hand wide unto thy brother, 
to thy poor and to thy needy in thy land." 
Kindness to the poor is especially pleasing 
to our Father in heaven. "He that giveth 
to the poor lendeth unto the Lord." This is 
a permanent investment, which will return a 
large interest. "Biessed is he that consider- 
eth the poor : the Lord will deliver him in 
time of trouble. • The Lord will preserve him 
and keep him alive ; and he shall be blessed 
upon the earth, and thou wilt not deliver 
him unto the will of his enemies. The Lord 
will strengthen him upon the bed of lan- 
guishing; thou wilt make all his bed in his 
sickness," Psalm 41 : 1-3. One of the sins of 
Sodom was that amid wealth and abundant 
harvests she left her poor to suffer. "Be- 
hold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sod- 
om : pride, fulness of bread, and abundance 
of idleness was in her, and in her daughters, 
neither did she strengthen the hand of the 
poor and needy." Ezekiel 16:49. 

Indeed, we neglect the poor at our peril. 
The Lord is their avenger. They may not 



MAN'S PEOPEETY. 139 

pursue us to the court of justice, but they 
will meet us at the bar of judgment. Special 
denunciations are pronounced in the Scrip- 
tures upon the oppressor of the poor, and 
those who stop their ears to the cries of the 
fatherless and widow. God has left on earth 
the poor to receive the tokens of our grati- 
tude to himself. 

"A poor -wayfaring man of grief 

Hath often crossed me on my way, 
Who sued so humbly for relief 

That I could never answer Nay. 
I had not power to ask his name, 
Whither he -went, or whence he came : 
Yet there was something in his eye 
That won my love, I knew not why. 

"Once, when my scanty meal was spread, 
He entered ; not a word he spake ; 

Just perishing for want of bread, 
I gave him all : he blessed it, brake, 

And ate ; but gave me part again : 

Mine w r as an angel's portion then ; 

And while I fed with eager haste, 

The crust was manna to my. taste. 

"'T was night, the floods w T ere out, it blew 
A wintry hurricane aloof : 
I heard his voice abroad, and flew 
To bid him welcome to my roof. 



140 



THE PEEFECT LAW. 



I warmed. I clothed, I cheered my guest, 
And laid him on my conch to rest ; 
Then made the earth my bed, and seemed 
In Eden's garden while I drearned. 

"Then in a moment to my view 

The stranger started from disguise ; 
The tokens in his hands I knew, 

My Saviour stood before my eyes ! 
He spake and my poor name he named, 
' Of I\le thou hast not been ashamed : 
These deeds shall thy memorial be ; 
Fear not, thou didst it unto Me.' " 

3JONTC-OMEEY. 

We are to regard our nekjlibors icelfare. He 
was a murderer who said, " Am I my broth- 
er's keeper?" Opposed to this selfishness is 
the divine injunction, "Bear ye one another's 
burdens." "We then that .are strong ought 
to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to 
please ourselves. Let every one of us please 
* his neighbor for his good to edification." Yie 
should seek opportunities to benefit others ; 
and in a world of privation and suffering 
these will never be wanting. "Look not 
every man on his own things, but every man 
also on the things of others." John Newton 
said : "I see in this world two heaps, one of 
human happiness, and one of misery. Now 



MAN 5 S PROPERTY. 



141 



if I can take but the smallest bit from the 
second heap and add it to the first, I carry a 
point. If as I go home, I meet a child who 
has dropped a half -penny, and if by giving 
it another I can wipe away its tears, I feel 
that I have done something." 

Why should we stand aloof from our fel- 
lows, and harden our hearts amid the woes 
around us? Should we be unwilling to oblige 
others, even if in doing so we must incom- 
mode ourselves? How blessed is the influ- 
ence of a kind and gentle heart in this cold 
stern world, where poverty and timidity meet 
so many rebuffs. It is like the sun coming 
out among angry clouds. It is like a shel- 
tering hill-side to the traveller on a bleak 
March day. 

In Job we have this description of a kind- 
hearted and generous man: ""When the ear 
heard me, then it blessed me ; and when the 
eye saw me it gave witness to me ; because I 
delivered the poor that cried, and the father- 
less and him that had none to help him. 
The blessing of him that was ready to perish 
came upon me, and I caused the widow's 
heart to sing for joy. I was eyes to the 



142 



THE PEBFECT LAW. 



blind, and- feet was I to the lame. I was a 
father to the poor; and the cause which I 
knew not I searched out. And I brake the 
jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil 
out of his teeth." Job 29 : 11-17. 

Many a youth has become a hardened 
criminal, who might have been saved to so- 
ciety by the exercise of kindness after his 
first misdeed. 

A leading broker of New York had a young 
man in his employ, who was tempted by the 
large amount of money passing through his 
hands. Small sums were missed day after 
day. He was charged with the peculation. 
The broker showed him how he could detect 
the abstraction of the smallest sum of money. 
The youth, overwhelmed with confusion, con- 
fessed his guilt. "Now," said the broker, 
" I shall not discharge, nor dishonor you. 1 
intend to keep you, and make a man of you. 
If you continue in this way you will become 
a vagabond. Let me see no more of this." 
He did not disappoint the confidence of that 
broker. A few years after he became an 
officer in a bank, and his former employer 
was his bondsman. 



MAN'S PROPERTY. 



143 



The duchess Montmorency was as cele- 
brated in the "brilliant court of France for 
her goodness, as for her beauty and rank. 
One day she ordered her seamstress to sew 
a number of diamonds on her most beautiful 
dress, in. which she expected to appear on 
the occasion of the king's birthday. The 
girl, tempted by the jewels, kept one. The 
duchess soon discovered the theft, which was 
at once acknowledged by the seamstress. "I 
will not imprison you, 5 ' said the duchess, "but 
take your pen and write what I tell you." 
Bathed in tears the girl obeyed. " Thou 
shalt not steal," continued the duchess, "is 
a command of the Holy Scriptures. Reflect 
upon the wickedness. By degrees all persons 
who sin are led farther into crime. Those 
who harden their hearts by one theft, learn 
to commit many. O Lunette, I ask you to 
reflect upon the evil of your course, and 
repent while it is time." By this power of 
kindness, Lunette was reformed and saved 
from ruin. 

Kind words greatly contribute to human 
happiness. "We can so speak as to wound, 
or heal ; to soothe, or irritate. Ruth's heart 



144 THE PEKFECT LAW. 



was touched in lier penury, when Boaz spoke 
pleasantly to her. " Thou hast comforted 
me, for thou hast spoken friendly." 

The following extracts from the confession 
of a man hardened in crime, and who ended 
his career on the gallows, show that a brutal 
heart may be moved by kind words. " When 
we got in front of the house, we saw what we 
took to be a man and his wife, and three 
young women and a boy, eating supper. I 
proposed to Tom that we should go in, and 
ask to warm and sit by the stove a few min- 
utes, and I would look over the chances a 
little. I told Tom not to shoot any one un- 
less it was necessary to prevent their escape, 
and we should tie them all, rob the house of 
what we wanted, then kill them, and set fire 
to the house. I went to the door and knocked. 
The man said, 'Conie in.' We went in and 
asked to warm by the stove ; he said, ' Yes, 
you can warm.' We sat until they were 
nearly through ; and as I thought it best to 
make the attack before they rose from the 
table, I got up to give Tom the signal. The 
man supposing I was about to go, said, 'Wont 
you stay and take some supper?' His kind 



MAN'S PEOPEETY. 



145 



invitation at the moment I was about to give 
the signal, saved his life and that of his fam- 
ily." ' * 

He related another incident whereby two 
lives were saved in the same waj^. "When 
I got to Herkimer, I left the railroad and 
took the highway. A mile from the town I 
saw a man and woman in the road before me 
going the same way. I thought I would pass 
them and see how they looked, and if well 
dressed I would turn back, shoot and rob 
them. So I went on, and passed them, and 
saw that they were well dressed and walking 
very slow. I went on just out of sight of 
them, and then started back, took out my 
revolver and cocked it, and just as I was 
going to shoot him, he spoke very pleasantly 
to me, ' Good evening, sir.' I answered c Good 
evening,' and passed on. 

" Since I have been writing my history sev- 
eral persons have said to me, they hoped I 
I would give good advice in it. The best 
advice I can give, is always to treat a stran- 
ger kindly, for you do n't know who or what 
he is, nor do you know how much good a 
kind act or a civil word may do yourself." 

The Perfect Law. 1Q 



146 THE PERFECT LAW. 

Let us now turn our thoughts to the things 
forbidden by this commandment. 

Idleness is one. This "will clothe a man 
with rags," and so it ought. God designed 
that every one should be engaged in some 
useful employment. He made work honor- 
able in Eden. The man who was lord of the 
earth had to do his own work. Adam and 
Eve had no servant. "By much slothf ill- 
ness the building decayeth, and through idle- 
ness of hands the house droppeth through." 
How life-like is the sketch of the sluggard as 
given by Solomon! "I went by the field of 
the slothful, and by the vineyard of «the man 
void of understanding, and lo, it was all grown 
over with thorns, and nettles had covered 
the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof 
was broken down. Then I saw and consid- 
ered it well, I looked upon it and received 
instruction." Prov. 24 : 30-33. 

Let not discouragements damp your ardor. 
Arago, the first astronomer of his age, puz- 
zled and disheartened by the obstacles he 
encountered in his early studies, was almost 
ready to give over the pursuit. While in 
this state of mind he turned over the leaves 



MAN'S PKOPEIiTY. 



147 



of his text-book, when his eye fell upon a let- 
ter printed on paper which had been used 
to stiffen the cover. It was addressed to a 
young man, discouraged like himself by the 
difficulties of mathematics. "Go on, sir, go 
on," was the advice given, "the difficulties 
you meet will lessen as you advance. Pro- 
ceed, and light will dawn and shine with in- 
creasing clearness on your path." "This 
maxim," says Arago, "'Go on, go on,' became 
my watchword and inspired me through life." 

Carelessness and wastefulness are contrary 
to this precept. "He also that is slothful in 
his work is brother to him that is a great 
waster." Prov. 18:9. Some people never 
have anything nice, and yet they are always 
purchasing, while others are neat and new 
with old things. To a great extent in this 
land, poverty arises from improvidence and 
waste. The poor keep themselves impover- 
ished by unwise outlay of money. When 
work is plenty and wages are high, they neg- 
lect to lay by for the future. In proportion 
to income and manner of living, the family 
expenses of the poor often exceed those of 
the rich. Said an observing woman who 



148 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



worked in tlie better families of a certain 
town, v in the houses of the rich I have learn- 
ed how to be economical." Frugality has 
enriched more men than speculation. 

Our Saviour set. us a beautiful example of 
economy in the feeding of the five thousand. 
He told his disciples to "gather up the frag- 
ments that remain, that nothing be lost." 
This was the order of One, who, by the exer- 
cise of miraculous power, had multiplied five 
loaves and two fishes into a sufficiency to 
feed that large number. And the great Cre- 
ator wastes nothing in all nature. The pois- 
oned air, which ammals breathe out, vegeta- 
tion draws in. And the exhalations of leaves 
and of the grass purify the atmosphere. 

There is a noticeable distinction between 
frugality and penuriousness, A man may be 
prudent without being miserly. The extrav- 
agant man sneers at the careful habits of the 
economical, and ridicules their scrutiny of the 
fidelity of those they employ; and yet just 
such oversight is wise and needful. It is a 
Christian duty to prevent waste. Indeed 
economy feeds benevolence. 

Two persons employed in collecting money 



MAN'S PROPERTY. 



149 



for a charitable object knocked at the door 
of a house. While waiting for the door to 
open, they overheard the occupant severely 
reproving his servant for wasting a piece of 
candle. Judging from this that he was a 
covetous man, they had no hope of receiving 
a donation. However they laid the case be- 
fore him, and without hesitation he presented 
them w T ith thirty dollars. Their surprise was 
so great that it attracted the attention of the 
donor, and he inquired the cause, when one 
of them confessed, "We happened to hear 
you reproving your servant for losing a piece 
of candle, and expected to find a parsimonious 
man." ' "Gentlemen," he replied, "I am very 
exact in the economy of my affairs ; and thus 
I am enabled, out of a moderate income, to 
save something to give to religion." John 
"Wesley's rule is excellent: "Make all you 
can, save all you can, give all you can." 

Cheating in trade, comes under the ban of 
this commandment, which covers all the trans- 
actions of buying and selling. The Bible 
often speaks of false weights and measures.* 

* See Lev. 19:36; Dent. 25:13; Prov. 16:11; 20:10) 23; 
Hosea 12:7; Amos 8:5; Micah 6:11. 



150 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



They "are an abomination to Gocl." "Thou 
shalt have a perfect and a just weight : a 
perfect and a just measure shalt thou have." 
Prominent among the sins of Israel is men- 
tioned, " The balances of deceit are in his 
hand." They " falsified the balances by de- 
ceit." The Scriptures refer to false weights 
and measures so frequently, because this has 
been a glaring evil in all ages; and at no 
period more than at the present day. Eight 
hundred and eight South London tradesmen 
were fined in one year, at the Newington 
sessions, for having in their possession un- 
just weights and measures. A writer in the 
Sunday Magazine says, "I fear there is not a 
solitary trade in which these dishonesties are 
not largely practised. Scales are tampered 
with : measures have false bottoms. Boxes of 
nails are sent to all parts of the world, war- 
ranted to contain a thousand, and containing 
only seven hundred and fifty. Bottles have 
degenerated in size, until nobody now ex- 
pects a quart bottle to hold a quart. Reels 
of cotton marked one hundred and twenty 
yards measure only eighty. The four-pound 
loaf comes short by eleven ounces. I have 



MAN'S PROPERTY. 



151 



heard of several yards more trimming being 
found in a dressmaker's bill, than could pos- 
sibly have been used in the lady's dress. I 
have heard of a master-painter who charged 
his customers according to his men's time, 
telling a man who was working at the decora- 
tion of a drawing-room, that he was going 
on a great deal too fast ; and the work that 
would have been done in four or five days, 
was made to stretch over ten or twelve. All 
these things are an " abomination to the 
Lord." 

It is base to take advantage of the neces- 
sities of the poor, by palming on them an 
inferior or damaged article, which would not 
be offered to a rich customer. This makes 
the lot of the poor still more hard. To de- 
ceive either seller or purchaser is dishonest. 
An exorbitant price is sometimes put on a 
small piece of property on account of the 
necessity of the adjacent owner. Too readily 
men avail themselves of these and similar 
opportunities to extort money, or make large 
profits. But gain which is not honorably 
obtained will prove a curse in the end. In 
the transactions of life, the rule of Christ 



152 THE PEHFECT LAW. 

should be our guiding principle, " Whatso- 
ever ye would that men should do tp you, do 
ye even so to them." 

Beating down the price of an article comes 
under the prohibition of the eighth com- 
mandment. This is an old practice, which 
Solomon reprobates. "It is naught, it is 
naught, saith the buyer, but when he is gone 
his way then he boasteth/' 

Mr. Gough stated in a lecture that, when 
in England, he conversed with a number of 
convicts, who had formerly been venders of 
vegetables, fruit, matches, and similar small 
wares ; and by that humble means had tried 
hard to gain an honest livelihood. They 
ascribed their failure and fall to the fact that 
their customers were so persistently in the 
habit of beating them down in their prices, 
that they found it impossible to earn a liv- 
ing by fair and honest dealing ; and were 
at length tempted to a course of cheating, 
which led, them step by step into lying, steal- 
ing, and finally into prison. The poor should 
have a fair and remunerative price, and thus 
be encouraged to provide for themselves. 
When more is demanded for an article than 



we choose to pay,, we should take an inferior 
one, or try another dealer. Still more repre- 
hensible, if possible, is the practice of beating 
down, when the purchaser knows in his own 
heart that only a just price is demanded. 

The standard of business morality here 
presented, is not according to the usages of 
trade, nor in harmony with the maxims of 
the world. To act in compliance with this 
hmh-toned and Christian honesty is called 
by men, throwing away splendid opportuni- 
ties. But the Christian is not of the world, 
and howeyer others may act, he is under sol- 
emn obligations to liye aboye the world and 
to let his light shine. And in these days cf 
sharp competition and actiye trade, just on 
this point must genuine piety commend itself 
by its works. In buying and selling and 
getting gain, we must show that we are true 
followers of Christ, and from our conduct in 
these things will our associates form their 
judgment of the reality of our religion. In 
this department of morality professing Chris- 
tians are often disgraced in the eyes of men. 

Debt may legitimately be regarded as a 
yiolation of the spirit of this precept of the 



154 



THE PERFECT LAW 



decalogue. By this is not meant those loans 
which are necessary and proper in trade and 
commerce, but the practice described by the 
phrase, "running in debt ;" purchasing articles 
without considering well how they are to be 
paid for. It is a Christian duty, and indeed 
a rule of morality, to live within our income. 
Self-denial and strict economy, and even pri- 
vation may be required in order to do so; 
yet they should be practised. If any one 
must suffer it should be ourselves, and not 
he from whom we purchase. Dr. Samuel 
Miller once remarked, "'Three things I hate, 
sin, debt, and dirt." Certainly these are 
fruitful sources of human misery. 

It is not uncommon to find honest men, 
who have fallen into dilatory habits in set- 
tling their accounts. Could they realize how 
much inconvenience, and even suffering, is 
thus caused, they would be more prompt. 
The advice Solomon gives his son on this 
point should be practised: VSay not unto 
thy neighbor, go and come again and to-mor- 
row I will give, when thou hast it by thee/' 
Pr o v. 3:28. 

And the sin is recorded in heaven of those 



MAN'S PROPERTY. 155 

who withhold from the laborer his hire, tak- 
ing advantage of his poverty. "Behold, the 
hire of the laborers who have reaped down 
your fields, which is of you kept back by 
fraud, crieth : and the cries of them which 
have reaped are entered into the ears of the 
Lord of Sabaoth." James 5 : -L 

Retaining articles found, without inquiry 
for the loser, is a breach of the eighth com- 
mandment. However useful and desirable 
the thing may be to the finder, he should not 
conceal it, nor should he be content with less 
than an Jionest search for the owner. This 
is in accordance with the Divine injunction : 
"If thy brother be not nigh unto thee, or if 
thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it 
[the beast astray] unto thine own house, and 
it shall be with thee, until thy brother seek 
after it, and thou shalt restore it to him 
again. In like manner shalt thou do with 
his ass ; and so shalt thou do witji his rai- 
ment ; and with all lost things of thy broth- 
er's, which he hath lost and thou hast found, 
shalt thou do likewise : thou mayest not hide 
.thyself." Deut. 22:2, 3. 

In a country village of England resided a 



156 THE PERFECT LAW. 

poor parson, with a wife and seven children. 
He was reduced to extreme want, and in 
deep distress of mind one day walked into 
the fields for relief, and found a purse of 
gold. He carried it home, and was urged 
by his wife to appropriate a portion of the 
money to supply their pressing necessities, 
arguing that it was a kind Providence which 
had thrown this gold in their way just at the 
time of great need. But he refused, declar- 
ing that he must endeavor to discover the 
owner. In a few days the purse was claimed 
by a gentleman who made no other return 
than thanks. The wife censured the husband 
for an overscrupulous honesty. In a few 
months however the curate was* presented 
by the owner of the purse with a living 
worth three hundred pounds a year. "We 
must do right even though suffering follow.. 
Love God and keep his commandments, and 
he will cause all things to work together for 
our good. A want of faith in God is the 
cause of many transgressions. 

Akin to this breach of the command is the 
retention of borrowed articles. In many 
houses things may be found, which long ago 



MAN'S PROPERTY. 



157 



should have been returned to those by whom 
they were loaned. And this negligence has 
caused inconvenience and perhaps loss to the 
owner. 

' In many other ways this commandment is 
infringed ; ways which seem almost too petty 
to mention, but which are a source of serious 
annoyance. There is a general propensity 
to cut or break off pieces from objects of 
public or national interest. Even the cur- 
tains of the White-House are often marred 
by those who desire some memento of their 
visit. The tomb of Washington long ago 
would have been carried away by bits, had 
it not been properly guarded. 

A wooden idol was sent from the Sandwich 
Islands, and placed in the missionary cabinet 
of the American Board in Boston. But - it 
w r as soon found necessary to enclose the im- 
age in a glass case, to prevent visitors from 
chipping off pieces. Persons who indulge in 
such trespasses, would be alarmed at the 
charge of theft, and yet they are violating 
the purport of the precept, " Thou shalt not 
steal." We should be careful to respect the 
rights and property of others. 



158 THE PERFECT LAW. 



IX. 

MAN'S CHARACTER. 

J^HOU SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS 
AGAINST THY NEIGHBOR 

Animals have their means of defence and 
attack : some in their claws, some in their 
teeth, some in their horns, and others in the 
swiftness with which they can escape from 
danger. And man has his weapon of warfare. 
Is it the fist? Ah, no! for that does not a 
tithe of the fighting. It is the tongue. That 
begins quarrels, which the fist, the gun, or 
the knife finish. "Death and life are in the 
power of the tongue." Prov. 15:4. Man's 
ingenuity has contrived most deadly weapons, 
but none of them are equal to the tongue. 
It will shoot farther than the minie rifle, 
and with more unerring certainty. It will 
cut deeper than the poniard. One asked 
a Spartan if his sword was sharp : " Sharper 
than calumny/' was his reply. Long before 



MAN'S CHARACTER. 



his day it was written. " There is that speak- 
eth like the piercings of a sword/' Proverbs 
12: IS. "Tongues cut deeper than swords, 
because they reach even to the soul." "A 
man that beareth false witness against his 
neighbor is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp 
arrow." Prov. 25:18. Some vices disap- 
pear as men grow older, but the vice of evil 
speaking does not. Paul exhorts the " aged 
women/' not to be mischief-makers. 

Thus God's invaluable boon to man — the 
power of speech — is fearfully abused. Well 
therefore may a whole commandment be de- 
voted to this subject, " God hath set two 
fences to keep in -the tongue, the teeth and the 
lips ; and this commandment is a third fence 
set about it, that it should not break forth 
into evil."- Indeed so ready is the tongue 
to fly out against God and man, that two out 
of the ten commandments are devoted, to it — 
one in the first table forbidding it to bios-* 
pheme ; and one in the second table regula- 
ting its converse with men. 

This precept requires "the maintaining and 
promoting of truth between man and man, 
* Watson. 



160 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



and of our own and our neighbor's good 
name;" while it forbids "whatsoever is prej- 
udicial to truth, or injurious to our own or 
our neighbor's good name." 

A good name 7 This is within the reach of 
all. Health is not possessed by every one, 
riches are obtained but by a fevv r , and station 
secured by less, but a good name is attain- 
able by the poorest. Even a child may gain 
it. Samuel won his, while in boyhood he 
waited on Eli. David's good name when a 
lad procured for him a prominent situation 
at the court of Saul. These young men ob- 
tained their reputation through the influence 
which piety exerted on their character. Thus 
" godliness is profitable unto all things, hav- 
ing promise of the life that now is, and of 
that which is to come." A good name is 
an inestimable capital with which to begin 
life, and most honorable to him who secures 
it. 

He that w T ishes friends " must show him- 
self friendly," and whoever seeks a good name 
must be upright and lenient in his transac- 
tions. A close dealer availing himself of 
every advantage cannot enjoy a good name. 



MAN'S CHARACTER. 161 



The uncharitable, the morose, the selfish, the 
lazy, the prodigal, cannot possess it. There 
are those who exhibit virtues which chal- 
lenge our admiration, and who in most fea- 
tures of their character are all we can expect 
of human nature, yet in some points are very 
deficient, and this mars the whole, "Dead 
flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to 
send forth a stinking savor ; so doth a little 
folly him that is in reputation for wisdom 
and honor." Eccles. 10:1. It is true of 
character as of fortifications, that "the whole 
is no stronger than the weakest part." 

Solomon's conviction was, that "a good 
name is rather to be chosen than great 
riches," but this is not the common senti- 
ment. Men, in their eagerness for wealth, 
often seriously injure their reputation. Alas, 
how vast the multitude whose souls have 
been lost through the love of money ! Judas 
seemed to be a faithful disciple until gain 
came between him and his Master. And 
many are steadfast in the faith, and maintain 
a godly walk, until like Demas they come to 
a silver mine. 

A good name must be maintained. Like 

The Perfect Law. 11 



162 THE PEEFECT LAW. 



the purest silver it needs occasionally to be 
burnished, by repeating that which secured 
the name. Our reputation is ourselves ; our 
daily demeanor, the constant repetition of 
our own deeds. Like a tree yielding its 
fruit in its season, a good name approves it- 
self by that which is performed. 

A good name can endure defamation, re- 
viling and persecution, but it cannot sur- 
vive bad company. This is a pestilential 
atmosphere, which breeds disease and death. 
CJ Can one go upon hot coals and his feet not 
be burned?" "Be not deceived; evil commu- 
nications corrupt good manners." A man's 
reputation suffers when he becomes a lounger 
in the tavern, or a frequenter of saloons, or 
an associate of the rough and the lewd. Like 
a soldier's badge, a man's associations tell to 
what corps he belongs. Therefore " ponder 
the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be 
established. Turn not to the right hand, nor 
to the left : remove thy foot from evil." 

This command forbids slander and tattling, 
A man's house is on fire ; the whole neigh- 
borhood are aroused and sally out to extin- 
guish the flames ; every one lends a helping 



MAN'S CHAR AC TEE. 



163 



hand. This is charitable and right. But now 
that man's good name is being consumed ; 
some thoughtless or malicious person has set 
fire to his character : are people moved by 
a general sympathy to quench that flame? 
Quite the reverse. They seem rather im- 
pelled by a universal desire to help forward 
the evil. Here comes one and throws on a 
bundle of straw, and others pick up all the 
chips and loose wood in the streets and fling 
them in; while scarcely one kind heart can be 
found to bring so much as a cup of water to 
dash upon the flames. This is the way when 
a report is circulating, which damages the 
character of a person. Instead of thinking 
we will wait and learn its truthfulness before 
repeating it, the common method is to relate 
to the next person, with the expletives, " I 
should not wonder if it were the case;" "I 
am not greatly surprised," etc. Slander cir- 
culates briskly, and good names are defam- 
ed by rehearsing what " everybody says." 

; Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out ; 

o where there is no whisperer, the strife ceas- 
eth." A malicious story is like a fish on dry 
land : it may fret and flounce, but if let alone, 



166 



THE PEKFECT LAW. 



dulge in it. Tlie north wind driveth away 
rain; so doth, an angry countenance a back- 
biting tongue." Prov. 25:23. We must re- 
ceive with pleasure and readily repeat a good 
report concerning our neighbor. We should 
regard him with charity, cover his infirmities, 
defend his character when unjustly assailed, 
and properly advise and warn him. But in 
order to do this, we must feel kindly toward 
him. We must have that love which thinketh 
no evil, and rejoiceth in the truth. Envy and 
jealousy must be banished from the heart. 
As Archbishop Leighton well remarks, "A 
guileful heart makes guileful tongues and 
lips. It is the work-house, where is the 
forge of deceits and slanders, and other evil- 
speaking: and the tongue is only the outer 
shop where they are vended, and the lips the 
door of it ; so that such ware as is made 
within, such and no other can be set out. 
And so in general, from the abundance of 
the heart the mouth speaketh, as our Saviour 
teacheth. That which the heart is full of 
runs over by the tongue." Assuredly our 
prayer should be, " Create in me a clean 
heart, O Gocl, and renew a right spirit with- 



MAN'S CHARACTER. 



1G7 



in me." "Set a watch, O Lord, before my 
mouth; keep the door of my lips." 

Making fun of individuals, giving them 
nicknames, and the like, may be mentioned 
as a violation of this precept. This is very 
common, but very unkind. We have only to 
place ourselves in the stead of one thus 
treated to understand the annoyance it causes. 
The practice of applying opprobious epithets 
to people of color is worthy of severe censure. 
God "hath made of one blood all nations of 
men." It is wrong to make sport of awk- 
wardness, ignorance, personal blemishes, or 
of those who are blind, lame, deaf, deformed, 
or whose personal appearance may be un- 
common and attract attention. Mortifica- 
tion is thus inflicted upon those whom it is 
our duty to comfort. "To him that is afflict- 
ed pity should be showed by his friends." 
Job 6:14 "There are four things," writes 
Philip Henry, "we must not make a mock of, 
sin, people's natural infirmities, the "Word of 
God, and good people." The children and 
lads of Jericho shouted after Elisha " go up 
thou bald head, go up thou bald head," and 
followed him with these derisive words out of 



168 



THE PEEFECT LAW. 



the city. But God manifested his displeas- 
ure at these- revilings, by causing two bears 
to come out of the wood, which tare forty 
and two of them. 

Quarrelling must be reprobated as one of 
the lowest of faults. A careful guarding of 
the tongue would prevent angry disputes. 
It was a rule of a good man, when he was 
provoked, not to speak, until he had taken 
so much time for reflection as is required to 
repeat the letters of the alphabet. When we 
are assailed by unkind words a better way 
is, to offer a request in our hearts that God 
will help us rule our spirits. When Jesus 
was reviled, he reviled not again. "Whereas 
nothing is more bitter to us than to be con- 
demned without cause, and together with 
wrongful violence to suffer slander ; yet not- 
withstanding this, it daily befalls the saints to 
be ill spoken of for doing well : and it is ex- 
pedient for them to be so exercised, that tam- 
ing away from all enticements of the world 
they may depend wholly upon God alone."* 

Lying is strictly prohibited in this com- 
mandment. The Bible has educated us to 

* Calvin. 



MAN'S CHARACTER. 



169 



regard the character of a liar with horror. 
Bat the tendency to this sin is strongly en- 
trenched in man's depraved nature. Lying 
is the handmaid of sin. Adam disobeyed and 
lied. Cain slew his brother and lied about 
it. No sin at the present day is so universal 
among the heathen: travellers, missionaries, 
and traders agree in asserting that no confi- 
dence whatever can be reposed in their state- 
ments. 

A strong temptation to lie arises out of a 
desire to escape harm, or avoid impending 
peril. Hence our minds should be fortified 
with the principle that it is better to suffer 
evil than to sin. The belief in an ever-pres- 
ent Protector and Guide, infinitely greater 
than all who may be arrayed against us, is a 
powerful aid in resisting the temptation to do 
evil by prevarication, that good may come. 
We should shrink from falsehood more than 
froni suffering. And seldom does a lie suc- 
ceed in securing the advantages anticipated. 
At the best it is a temporary refuge. " The 
lip of truth shall be established for ever, but 
a lying tongue is but for a moment." Prov. 
12:19. 



170 



THE PEEFECT LAW. 



It is fatal to the character of any man to 
have the name of a liar. None believe him 
even when he speaks the truth. Every honor- 
able person shims him as though he had the 
plague. He is detested by all and trusted by 
none. Said the Psalmist "he that telle th lies 
shall not tarry in my sight." On the other 
hand how enviable the reputation gained by 
him whose word is as good as his oath : 
whose statements are never questioned. Dr. 
Moses Hoge of Columbus, Ohio, in his long 
life, had so strictly adhered to truth, that' 
upon one occasion when about to be sworn 
in court, the presiding judge said, " We will 
receive Dr. Hoge's testimony without admin- 
istering an oath." Such an enviable reputa- 
tion for truthfulness cannot be attained by 
those who are guilty of equivocation, prevar- 
ication, wresting men's words, denying their 
own faults, or exaggerating the faults of 
others. 

The Scriptures are very plain in condemn- 
ing this sin. "Lying lips are abomination to 
the Lord, but they that deal truly are his 
delight." Prov. 12:22. "These six things 
doth the Lord hate; yea, seven are an abomi- 



MAN'S CHARACTER. 



171 



nation unto Him : a proud look, a lying tongue, 
and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart 
that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that 
be swift in running to mischief, a false wit- 
ness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth 
discord among brethren." Prov. 6:16-19. 

Every deceiver breaks this statute. Jacob 
clad himself in Esau's robes, and stood before 
his father hoping thus to gain the coveted 
blessing. Isaac's dimmed eyes could not dis- 
cern Jacob, but his ear detected the voice. 
He felt of the hands and face, but they were 
so disguised as to mislead even the suspi- 
cious touch of the aged father ; and before 
Jacob could effect his purpose, he was com- 
pelled to assist fraud by falsehood. Such is 
generally the end of imposture. It becomes 
involved in lies. How did God punish him 
for this sin, when his own children became 
deceivers and wrung his heart with the sight 
of Joseph's coat, torn as by a wild beast, and 
stained as he supposed with his son's blood. 
He duped his father by garments, and now 
is himself deluded by his darling's robe, to 
credit a cruel falsehood. 

Some avoid telling a lie by acting one, which 



172 



THE PEEFECT LAW. 



they imagine to be less heinous. There is 
no essential difference, while the effect is 
the same — to mislead. Lies are often thus 
acted when inquiries are made concerning the 
character of others ; or when conversation 
relates to their conduct : a significant shrug, 
a hint, a half-concealed intimation will be as 
fatal, as though untrue words were spoken. 
Even silence may give assent to an injurious 
suspicion. " A naughty person, a wicked man, 
walketh with a froward mouth. He winketh 
with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he 
teacheth with his fingers." Prov. 6:12, 13. 
When a false impression of another is made 
by our act, or look, or word, or in any other 
mode, we are damaging his character, if we 
do not on the spot correct the misapprehen- 
sion. "We are bearing false witness against 
our neighbor, if we let the matter go uncor- 
rected. In just such ways grievous scandals 
have originated. 

. The practice is too common of deceiving- 
children. This is not only sinful in itself, 
but injurious to them. It renders them dis- 
trustful, even when the truth is told. Eobert 
Hall was spending an evening at the house 



MAN'S CHAKACTEK. 173 

of a friend, when a lady on a visit there, 
retired that her little girl of four years might 
go to bed. She returned in about half an 
hour and said to a lady near her — " She is 
gone to sleep. L put on my night-cap and 
lay down by her and she soon dropped off." 
Mr. Hall overheard this remark and said — 
" Excuse me, madam; do you wish your child 
to grow up a liar?" " Oh no, sir, I should 
be shocked at such a thing." " Then bear 
with me, while I say, you must never act a 
he before her. Children are very quick ob- 
servers, and soon learn that that which as- 
sumes to be what it is not, is a lie, whether 
acted or spoken." 

Hypocrisy is an acted lie, in which the 
person appears to be what he really is not. 
He assumes to be good and pious, that under 
this cover he may the more effectually and 
securely accomplish his purposes. According 
to a fable, there was to be a battle between 
the beasts of the field and the fowls of the 
air. The griffin stood neutral until he could 
see which side got the best of the day. This 
griffin was an ideal creature, the fore part of 
whose body resembled the eagle, while the 



174 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



back part resembled a lion. He therefore 
showed his front to the fowls, and his back 
to the beasts, hoping thereby to deceive each 
side. But his true character was discovered, 
and then he was hated and.rejected by both, 
as unworthy of belonging to either. Thus it 
fares with the hypocrite, who desires to serve 
two masters, and to retain the favor of God 
and man. In the end he is discarded by each. 
The world rejects him because he professes 
godliness ; and the Lord will not receive him, 
because he is yet in love with his sins. He 
betrays Christ for the world's sake, and him- 
self for Satan's sake. 

Exaggeration is contrary to the teaching of 
this precept. Some persons love to weave an 
astonishing story, and every event assumes a 
marvellous aspect when narrated by them. 
They so mould and color an occurrence, that 
the original would scarcely be recognized. A 
varying from the exact circumstances enters 
into almost every repetition of a story. "We 
therefore should watch ourselves and relate 
events precisely as they occurred. It is from 
a neglect of this that so many false state- 
ments are afloat in the community. 



MAX'S CHARACTER. 



175 



"Let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay, 
for whatsoever is more than these cometh of 
evil." Here we have a rebuke of that ex- 
travagant mode of speech to which many are 
addicted. If they are weary, they are tired 
to death. If they are cold, they are freezing. 
If they are warm, they are burning up. If 
the day be unpleasant, it is the most disa- 
greeable day that ever has been. If any 
thing be pretty, it is pronounced magnificent; 
if it be ugly, it is called horrid. By such 
superlatives applied to ordinary things, our 
language is weakened; and we are deprived 
of adequate terms, whereby to express that 
which is really very vile, or very excellent. 

In the light which has now been shed on 
this ninth commandment, we can heartily 
assert with Solomon, " a wholesome tongue 
is a tree of life, but perverseness therein is a 
breach in the spirit." Blessed are they who 
are masters of the tongue! How much has 
been lost by indiscreet words ! Excellent and 
gentle Moses was once angered by the strife 
of Israel, so that he spake unadvisedly with his 
hps at the waters of Meribah, and lost there- 
by the privilege of entering Canaan. More 



176 



THE PEEFECT L A W . 



space is devoted in Scripture to sins of the 
tongue than perhaps to any other transgres- 
sion. How keen is that delineation of the 
faults of the tongue which is drawn by James. 

"Behold we put bits in the horses' mouths, 
that they may obey us ; and we turn about 
their whole body. Behold also the ships, 
which though they be so great, and are driv- 
en of fierce winds, yet are they turned about 
with a very small helm, whithersoever the 
governor listeth. Even so the tongue is a lit- 
tle member, and boasteth great things. Be- 
hold how great a matter a little fire kindleth! 
And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity ; 
so is the tongue amonsf our members, that it 
defile th the whole body, and setteth on fire 
the course of nature, and it is set on fire of 
hell. For every kind of beasts, and of birds, 
and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is 
tamed and hath been tamed of mankind; but 
the tongue can no man tame : it is an unruly 
evil full of deadly poison. Therewith bless 
we God, even the Father ; and therewith 
curse we men, which are made after the sim- 
ilitude of God. Out of the same mouth pro- 
ceedeth blessing and cursing." 



MAX' S CHAR AC TEE. 



177 



How ought those Christians, who indulge 
in evil speaking and use their tongue very 
freely about others, to tremble, lest they be 
self-deceived, when they read the announce- 
ment of the Holy Spirit : "If any man among 
you seemeth to be religious, and bridleth not 
his tongue, but deeeiveth his own heart, this 
man's religion is vain/ 5 James 1 : 26. 

It is related of one of the ancients, that a 
man without learning came to him to be 
taught a psalm. He turned to the thirty- 
ninth and read the first verse : "I said I will 
take heed to my ways, that I sin not with 
my tongue." The inquirer would hear no 
more, and said this was enough if he could 
practise it. Six months after, the instructor 
met him and reproved him because he had 
not come again. He replied that he had not 
finished the verse. And forty years after, 
he confessed that he had been all that time 
studying it, but had not learned to fulfil it. 
" If any man offend not in word, the same is 
a perfect man, and able also to bridle the 
whole body." James 3 : 2. 



The Pei feet Law. 



12 



178 



THE PEEFECT LAW. 



X. 

MAN'S HEART. 

J^HOU SHALT NOT COVET THY NEIGH- 
BOR'S HOUSE, THOU SHALT NOT COVET 
THY NEIGHBOR'S WIFE. NOR HIS MAN- 
SERVANT, NOR HIS MAID— SERVANT, 
NOR HIS OX, NOR HIS ASS, NOR ANY 
THING THAT IS THY NEIGHBOR'S, 

" The Lord seeth not as man seeth : for 
man looketh on the outward appearance, but 
the Lord looketh on the heart" Such were the 
impressive words, and the convincing reason, 
wherewith the Lord set aside the preference, 
which the prophet Samuel had for Eliab the 
eldest son of Jesse. He regarded him as 
just the man for king : because he was of 
large stature and an attractive countenance, 
and of imposing personal appearance. But 
the Lord knew that he lacked suitable quali- 
ties of heart. In like manner this command- 
ment "looketh on the heart." Most appro- 



MAN'S HEART. 



179 



priately then it is made the last precept of 
the decalogue ; for like a golden band it en - 
circles all the duties which man owes to his 
fellow and to God. It is His prerogative to 
search the heart. The heart must be right 
in his sight, else we cannot be accepted of 
him. The heart influences the conduct. A 
money-loving heart makes an avaricious man. 
"A good man out of the good treasure of his 
heart bringeth forth that which is good : and 
an evil man out of the evil treasure of his 
heart bringeth forth that which is evil." Luke 
6 : 45. " Out of the heart of men proceed evil 
thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 
thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciv- 
iousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, fool- 
ishness." Mark 7:21, 22. Certainly such "a 
cage of unclean beasts" should come under 
the inspection and control of the law of God. 

This commandment forbids covetousness, 
which is an inordinate desire to possess what 
we do not have. The Divine rule is that we 
be content with those things which God is 
pleased to bestow ; and that we do not vex 
ourselves and others by a constant pining 
for such things as are withheld. 



180 THE PERFECT LAW. 



Discontent is wide spread, if not well nigh 
universal. It growls in the hut, and it festers 
in the abode of affluence. There are those 
who render themselves uncomfortable over 
every thing which occurs contrary to their 
notions. Blessings pass unnoticed, while they 
brood over all that is untoward. Their frowns 
are many, but their smiles are few. 

Jonah is a representative of this class. He 
was ordered to proclaim to the inhabitants 
of Nineveh, that unless they repented, they 
and their city should be overthrown by Divine 
judgments. For some reason this was an 
unwelcome service to him, and with a reck- 
less spirit he fled from the performance of it. 
Constrained by the chastising hand of God, 
he went at last, and in the streets of the city 
announced the threatened woe. King and 
people prostrated themselves before the Al- 
mighty in humble penitence, and besought 
and obtained forgiveness. But this heavenly 
clemency, which the recreant prophet himself 
had just experienced, displeased him. Over 
the booth which afforded him a temporary 
shelter God caused a vine to grow and spread. 
But soon a w T orm gnawed at the root, and 



MAN'S HEART. 



181 



the hot sun withered the clustering foliage, 
and the rays broke through and beat upon 
the prophet's head, and then his frettings 
revived. And the last we hear of Jonah, he 
is sitting under the blasted gourd, murmur- 
ing, "It is better for me to die than to live." 
" I do well to be angry." 

Discontent is unfavorable to our health and 
peace, as well as that of others. It will drain 
the sources of individual comfort, and mar if 
not overthrow domestic happiness. Wort 
has slain its thousands, but fretting slays its 
ten thousands. And the more this spirit is 
indulged, the greater will become its strength. 

"I have learned," said Paul, "in whatsoever 
state I am, therewith to be content." "Be 
content with such things as ye have." This 
does not mean that we should be indifferent 
to success in life, and not strive to improve 
our condition. Contentment is no ally of 
laziness. The exhortation is to be satisfied 
with whatever honest labor and patient per- 
severance and diligent exertion may secure. 
This kind of contentment, with godliness, will 
produce a larger amount of happiness than 
can be attained in the full tide of prosperity. 



184 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



worthy of esteem in a king's crown, than are 
blocks of granite in a wall. Each has its 
value and its service. In like manner we 
all have our place and use. The laborer re- 
quires the capital of the rich man, while the 
prince could not enjoy his wealth without the 
toil of others. 

The Divine appointments are holy, just, 
and wise. Man cannot now understand the 
purposes of the Almighty. " Thy way is in 
the sea, and thy path in the great waters," 
and there our thoughts are drowned. But 
however mysterious and surprising the cir- 
cumstances may be which begirt us, we must 
hold fast our faith in God, and believe that 
he careth for us. 

A cripple sat in his little room, scarcely 
able to move, and wholly dependent upon 
others for the supply of the necessaries of 
life. From his window he could gaze across 
the green fields, and see the ripe grain wav- 
ing beneath the summer breeze, but not one 
kernel could he earn. He watched the rich 
riding at ease in their carriage, and yet did 
not envy them. He could see the houses and 
lawns of those high in position, who feared 



MAX'S HEART. 



1S5 



not the God whom he adored ; but as he 
looked around his cheerless room he was con- 
tent. A Mend said to him one day, "Does it 
never seem hard, that you who, from lame- 
ness, need carriage and horses to convey you 
about, are deprived of them, while those who 
are able to walk have these luxuries at com- 
mand?" His reply evinced the true spirit of 
Christian resignation : " Sir, you are rich, 
and abundantly able to give your son a bag 
of gold. Ought he to be vexed, because you 
withhold it out of love to him, and for his 
best good? My heavenly Father is rich. 
He owns earth and stars, and all the mines of 
precious things; but he sees fit to leave me 
here in this small room, a cripple, and with- 
out a dollar I can call my own. Yet he has 
given me what I would not exchange for all 
the gold of the Indies — a contented niind.' ; 

This commandment speaks in trumpet- 
tones against envy, which is a most malig- 
nant temper of the heart, and when indulged, 
destroys human happiness. "Wrath is cruel, 
and anger is outrageous, but who can stand 
before envy?" It opens the door to crime. 
Joseph's brethren were led by it to plot his 



186 



THE PEKFECT LAW. 



murder. It seized Ahab's heart as lie looked 
on Naboth's vineyard which joined his own 
extensive gardens, and so distorted his vis- 
ion, that all the beauty of his own grounds 
seemed to depend on the possession of that 
man's small plot. It preyed on the king's 
spirits and sunk him into melancholy ; and 
induced him finally to acquiesce in that judi- 
cial murder, which despoiled Naboth's fam- 
ily of their homestead, and planted another 
thorn in the monarch's remorseful pillow. 

Envy is never without an object for which 
to pine. The poor are envious of the ease 
and luxurious living of the rich ; while the 
rich envy the health and strength of the 
very workmen they employ. "We daily wit- 
ness gifts, attainments, and success in others, 
which are not enjoyed by ourselves; and if 
we yield to jealousy, we shall but create our 
own unhappiness. Envy must be nipped in 
the bud, else its poison will soon embitter 
every cup of enjoyment. It is "the rotten- 
ness of the bones." Prov. 14 : 30. As its 
antidote, we must cultivate a magnanimous 
disposition, and train our spirits to rejoice in 
the prosperity of others. 



MAN'S HEART. 



187 



Two merchants were neighbors and be- 
came jealous of each other as rivals, which 
led to a bitter enmity and evil speaking. 
After a while the conscience of one of them 
condemned his course, and he consulted a 
pious friend as to the best manner of acting. 
The advice was, " When any person shall en- 
ter your store in order to purchase, and you 
have not what suits him, advise him to go 
over to your neighbor." He did so. And 
the rival was so moved by these acts from 
one w T hom he regarded as a bitter enemy, 
that he repaired to his house, and begged 
pardon for the malice he had shown. Let 
us heed the counsel of Paul, " Grudge not one 
against another." 

Avarice is another breach of this command. 
Dives made money his god, and lost his soul. 
The rich fool sought no other portion than 
worldly treasures. Job however had im- 
mense possessions, and was a godly man. 
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were among the 
richest men of their day, and yet they served 
the Lord. Nevertheless riches are a snare 
which entangles many men, and sadly mars 
their piety, even where it does not ruin the 



188 THE PERFECT LAW. 



soul. "It is easier for a camel to go through 
the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to 
enter into the kingdom of heaven." Money 
often becomes the trust of the rich. They 
are satisfied with their portion. They are 
engrossed with the various projects which are 
to increase their store, while they forget God 
their Preserver and final Judge. To strength- 
en them against these temptations, it is writ- 
ten : " Charge them that are rich in this world, 
that they be not high-minded, nor trust in 
uncertain riches, but in the living God." 

And in this same exhortation, Paul tells 
the rich how they may guard against ava- 
rice. "Charge them that are rich, that they 
do good, that they be rich in good ivorhs, ready 
to distribute, willing to communicate ; laying 
up in store for themselves a good foundation 
against the time to come, that they may lay 
hold on eternal life." 1 Timothy 6:17-19. 
Wealth is a blessing when it causes the wid- 
ow's heart to sing for joy, clothes the father- 
less, is eyes to the blind and feet to the lame : 
when it teaches ignorant children, sends Bi- 
bles and tracts among the poor, and preaches 
the gospel to the Gentiles. 



MAX'S HEART. 



189 



But tliepoor may he avaricious. Greed may 
gloat over pennies as well as over dollars. 
The love of money can sustain itself on very 
little. The poor may be as loath to practise 
self-denial for Christ's cause, as are the rich 
to give in proportion to their means. To all 
classes therefore the admonition applies — 
" Take heed and beware of covetousness, for 
a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of 
the things which he possesseth." Our Sav- 
iour teaches that the poor are not exempted 
from the exercise of benevolence. The two 
mites of the poor widow are mentioned, not 
solely to inform us that the smallest gifts are 
pleasing to God, but this truth also is con- 
veyed: that he who gives unto all of us the 
breath of life, requires a share even out of 
our penury. 

A great evil of the present time is the de- 
sire to realize a fortune in a few years, or by 
one successful venture. This is leading to all 
kinds of wild speculation, to lotteries and gift 
enterprises. Thus a disinclination is spread- 
ing among the people for the moderate and 
steady accumulations which characterized 
former times, and which are far better than 



190 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



sudden acquisition. Wealth is of little ser- 
vice and of brief continuance, without those 
habits of watchfulness and economy which 
prepare the possessor to retain and employ 
his abundance. But such habits are formed 
in the ordinary occupations of life, and not 
by the drawing of a prize, or the success 
of a shrewd operation. It is a fact which 
should check this inordinate desire for sud- 
den wealth, that the instances are rare in 
which men have retained what they have 
acquired by chance, or with very little effort. 
Vain display, idleness, or dissipation speedily 
sweeps away such gains. 

Godliness is the preventive and curative of 
discontent, envy, avarice, and the whole brood 
of evil passions. " Godliness with content- 
ment is great gain. For we brought nothing 
into this world, and it is certain we can carry 
nothing out. And having food and raiment 
let us be therewith content." An unwaver- 
ing trust in God will render us contented, if 
any thing can. "With the hope of heaven 
irradiating the heart, even Lazarus is rich. 
Without the forgiveness of sin, even Dives is 
poor. Stephen Girard confessed, "As to 



MAX'S HEART. 



191 



myself, I live like a galley-slave, constantly 
occupied, and often passing nights without 
sleep. I am wrapped in a labyrinth of af- 
fairs, and worn out with care. I do not value 
fortune. The love of labor is my highest 
emotion. When I rise in the morning, my 
only effort is to labor so hard during the day, 
that when the night comes I may be able 
to sleep soundly." Sleepless nights are the 
horror which haunts many a bed of down. 
A French financier, who was often kept awake 
by the cares of his business, said, with a 
deep sigh, " Alas ! why is there no sleep to 
be sold." Money cannot lure slumber to 
close the weary eyelids ; but it is the gener- 
ous and promptly paid wages of labor. It is 
a blessed solace of the poor. 

In sweet contrast with these querulous 
complainings, is the following incident which 
occurred on the battle-field of Antietam, in 
September 1862. In a stable a number of* 
men lay, some wounded, and a few cold in 
death. None was there to minister to their 
wants, to move them to an easier position, or 
to wet their parched tongues with cordials. 
At last a member of the Christian Com- 



192 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



mission entered that place of suffering, and 
among the wounded found a young man, 
whose leg had been shattered by a shell, and 
roughly amputated on the field. The band- 
age had loosened, and the wound had burst 
open, causing the most intense pain. Says 
the narrator: "As I stooped oyer him, and 
tried to place him in a more comfortable 
position, I could not help exclaiming, 'Poor, 
poor fellow, yours is indeed a sad lot — alone, 
friendless, and dying!' Looking up with a 
sweet smile he said, 'Not so bad as it might 
be, sir : that man over there has been dead 
these three days.' 

"'What, 5 I exclaimed, 'do you utter no 
complaint ?' He looked in my face calmly 
saying, 'Why, sir, I am happier than a prince, 
and a heap better off, even here. 5 

"'What makes you so happy?' I asked. 'I 
love Jesus,' he replied, 'and Jesus showed 
his love for me by coming in a stable ; he 
suffered more for me than I do now.'" 

Men seek happiness in pleasure ; but it is 
not found in the theatre, the opera, or the 
feast. Gold exclaims, "It is not with me;" 
and Ambition declares, " I have it not." 



MAN'S HEAFiT. 193 

Tims men seek it every where, but in the 
right place — God. " Thou hast made us for 
Thyself," said a father in the church, "and 
we cannot be at rest until we have found 
Thee." 



1 ' If others, in the flush of health, 

Can richly dress and brightly shine ; 
I must not envy them their wealth, 

Or wish that aught of theirs were mine. 

"If God should call me to be poor, 
Still I '11 be thankful for my lot ; 
For Jesus trod this path before, 
And well I know he murmured not. 

"I must not look with envious eyes 
On aught than others may possess ; 
Or wish, whatever God denies, 

To make their sum of blessings less, 

4 'Is there, then, naught beneath, above. 
That I may covet to possess? 
Yes, there 's the Saviour's boundless love, 
With which he waits my soul to bless. 

"To me this treasure, Lord, impart, 

Thy pardoning grace, oh, let me prove ; 
Write thou thy laws upon my heart, 
And make me covet all thy love." 



The Perfect Law. 



13 



191 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



CONCLUSION, 

From this contemplation of the decalogue 
we learn that "the commandment is exceeding 
broad." It is a " discerner of the thoughts 
and intents of the heart." When David med- 
itated on this law he said, "I thought on 
my ways." Would it not be wise for us to 
think on our ways? We must confess that 
we have broken these laws of God. As the 
rays of his revealed will have shone upon our 
actions, and penetrated the dark recesses of 
our hearts, they have disclosed transgression 
and wickedness. We are offenders in many 
things, but let us remember there is One 
whose cause of complaint against us is far 
greater than man can have against man. We 
have sinned against the Lord our God. And 
we are on our way to be judged by that 
offended and injured God. This fact should 
awaken serious thought. Ere long, sen- 
tence of condemnation will be pronounced, 



CONCLUSION. 195 



and its execution will straightway follow, 
from the effects of which there can be no 
escape. 

Mow then may a sinner be just with God? 
This is the question of the ages, which phi- 
losophy has studied and superstition vainly 
endeavored to solve. The Bible gives the 
only answer which has ever set the human 
heart at rest : Repent and believe on the Lord 
Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith in Christ 
must be combined. Neither can be dispensed 
with. "The soul that sinneth it shall die." 
" Cursed is every one that continueth not in 
all things written in the book of the law to 
do them." This is the Divine penalty affixed 
to sin. Will repentance of itself remove it ? 
A man commits a forgery. He is appre- 
hended, has a fair trial, and the jury find 
him guilty. The judge ere pronouncing sen- 
tence asks the criminal if he has any reason 
to give why the law should not be executed 
upon him. He rises and says: "I confess my 
guilt, but God knows I sincerely repent of 
my crime. I have spent nights in my cell 
weeping over my folly. No sorrow can be 
more genuine than mine. If you will give 



196 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



me my liberty, I solemnly promise to lead a 
better life." Now however the judge might 
be moved by such an appeal, he would reply : 
"I am glad to hear that you are sensible 
of your guilt. But your repentance cannot 
deliver you. The law of the land has been 
violated ; and upon you the transgressor, pun- 
ishment must be inflicted." And so stands 
the law of Heaven. The Scriptures do not 
warrant the hope that repentance alone, how- 
ever sincere, can save a soul from the wrath 
of God. 

How then can deliverance come? God 
in his mercy has provided a mode, which 
neither repeals the law nor dims its majes- 
ty; but which substitutes the Innocent for 
the guilty. When "we were without help 
Christ died for us." He made an atonement 
for our sins. His sacrifice cancels the claim 
of eternal justice. The demand of the law 
is met, not in the punishment of the soul 
that sinned, but, through divine clemency, 
in the Lord Jesus Christ. The sinner must 
repent, not under the crags of Sinai, but at 
the foot of the cross. Here is that which 
takes away^ sin. Hence Christ crucified 



CONCLUSION. 



197 



is held up before the sin-burdened soul : 
"I am the way, the truth, and the life; no 
man cometh unto the Father, but by me." 
Just so long as Jesus Christ is left out of a 
man's creed, he has no hope of pardon, and 
will have no peace of mind. "He that 
honoreth not the Son, honoreth not the 
Father which hath sent him." There is no 
acceptable worship of God except through 
Christ. 

The Lord Jesus gave himself for us, and 
He in return must have ourselves. This is 
a stumbling-block to many awakened souls, 
who seek to be reconciled to God by a pro- 
cess similar to that which Jacob employed 
in order to propitiate his brother. He made 
selections of goats, sheep, camels, and kine, 
out of his flocks ; and put each drove under 
the care of a keeper, who was charged with 
a conciliatory salutation, wherewith he was 
to render up his herd as a present to Esau. 
Having thus arranged his propitiatory offer- 
ing, Jacob commanded those servants to pass 
over before him, and meet Esau first. He 
would come afterwards. In this manner some 
seek to come to God. In advance of them 



198 



THE PERFECT LAW. 



they are sending alms, tithes, a punctilious 
observance of the traditions of men, a meas- 
ure of personal goodness, arid of religious 
observance — all a toilsome preparation to 
meet their offended God ; while they reserve 
themselves to the last, tcliereas they should he the 
first. Meanwhile, like J acob, they have little 
peace of mind. They are in an agony of fear 
lest their offerings are not pure enough for 
God to receive. 

Of this class was Luther in his early reli- 
gious experience. "When I was a monk, I 
endeavored as much as possible, to live after 
the strict rule of mine order. I was wont to 
shrive myself with great devotion, and to 
reckon up all my sins, yet being always very 
contrite: and I returned to confession very 
often, and thoroughly performed the penance 
that was enjoined unto me ; yet for all this 
my conscience could never be fully satisfied, 
but was always in doubt, and said, This or 
that, thou hast not done rightly; thou wast 
not sorrowful or contrite enough ; this sin 
thou didst omit ill thy confession. For it is 
impossible, as Paul saith, that the conscience 
should be pacified by the works of the law, 



CONCLUSION, 



199 



without the promise and glad tidings through 
Christ/'* 

We must lay ourselves upon the altar. Years 
ago, a missionary was visited by a proud 
Indian chief, whose soul trembled under a 
powerful conviction of sin. He wanted to 
be saved, and he was willing to do any thing, 
except to give up all and trust in Jesus. He 
offered his wampum as a sacrifice for his 
sins. The missionary shook his head and 
said, "No, Christ cannot accept such a sacri- 
fice." The Indian went away sorrowful; but 
unable to rest beneath the frowns of his 
Maker, he returned and offered his rifle and 
the skins he had taken in hunting. * The 
missionary again said, " No, Christ cannot 
accept such a sacrifice." The troubled man 
withdrew; but the Spirit gave him no peace, 
and he came back yet again, with a more 
costly offering* — his wigwam, his children, and 
his wife, even all he had, to be given for the 
sins of his soul. Again the missionary re- 
plied, "No, Christ cannot accept such a sacri- 
fice." The chief stood in silence, his head 
bowed like a bulrush, and his frame trem- 
* Commentary on Galatians. . 



200 THE PERFECT LAW. 



bling with emotion ; then lifting his tearful 
eyes to heaven, his heart poured itself out in 
one cry of surrender to God — "Here, Lord, 
take poor Indian too." And the Lord re- 
ceived him, and gave him peace in believing. 
" The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit ; 
a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou 
wilt not despise," 



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